STUDY BOOK The power of language and actions, the basis for
COACHING: El poder del lenguaje y las acciones
A true statement is a proposition for which we can provide a witness.
A false statement is a proposition that is subject to confirmation, but which any witness, any person who was present on the occasion, could disprove.
When we make affirmations we are talking about the state of our world and we are talking about an already existing world. Affirmations have to do with the world of facts.
• The Trials.
When we make an assertion, the first thing to consider is the content of the assertion, differentiating between facts and value judgements. Facts are of a probable and specific nature, whereas value judgements are based on a personal opinion or perception of what we are saying. A clear example of this would be "this morning there was an earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale" or "this morning there was a very strong earthquake, similar to one several years ago". In the first sentence, a specific fact is given, with clear and undeniable data. In the second sentence, the person's appreciation of how he or she felt the tremor is given. For a person who lived through the earthquake of 1985, this sentence is totally false. When we speak from the facts there is generally agreement, but when it comes to judgements there is not, personal perception becomes something that can lead to conflict. Although the content of the sentences seems to be the same, this difference has important characteristics when it comes to understanding what the person is saying. Many of our conceptions about good and evil, about justice, wisdom, beauty and truth, etc., are based precisely on the assumption that we can deal with them objectively, independently of the observer making the assertion. A sharp distinction must be made between the assertions. For this we must abandon the old understanding that language describes reality. It is only by admitting that language is action that we can see the profound difference between them all. Why do we say that they are different actions?
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