Contemporary Management Problem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Contemporary Management Problem - Essay Example Organizational sustainability depends on efficiency of management team. The organization is not a mere set of employees or top management. Organizational sustainability depends on synchronization between top level management, middle level management and lower level management. Business management helps to integrate functions of each department to increase the efficiency of service delivery. Business management plays a cordial role to solve critical organizational issues (labour related problem, irregular trade practices, employee disruption, maintaining transparency between each department’s works, designing vision and mission statement and maintaining a stable organizational hierarchy). Many companies use Business Crisis Management (BCM) and Continuity Management (CM) to identify and solve business related problems. Centrality of management functions revolves around few departments of the organizations. Various departments (like production, marketing, finance, operation) play pivotal role to decide the dynamics of business management. Business management plays important role in solving people related issues of management. Many organizations have failed due to poor performance of top level management in last few years. ... Learning organization concept has been used by many management research scholars to distinguish between successful and failed organizations. Learning organization can be described in the following manner. The organization gives importance on acquiring or creating and transferring information and knowledge (Porth and McCall, n.d.). Four key things are important for a learning organization. They are- 1-problem solving in an ethical and systemic manner, 2- encouraging new thoughts or process to change the management functions, trying to learn from past mistakes committed by other organizations, 3- trying to maintain equilibrium between good business practise by other organizations and self evaluation, 4- maintaining transparent communication dynamics across the organization. Free flowing communication model helps to spread the knowledge across every department of organization (Garvin, 1993, p. 81). Many organizations failed to maintain a steady business policy to create a sustainable or ganizational structure. Various management problems are explained in the following section. Organisational structure (problems regarding management hierarchy, board members are not very clear about their responsibilities, lack of communication between different functional departments). Leadership (organization is running without any mission and vision statement, organization is managing business without any long term objectives). Motivation (lack of motivation among employees to perform a particular task, lack of support from the top level management creates communication gap between them and employees). Business ethics (many companies fail to maintain fair business

Infinite Truth Essay Example for Free

Infinite Truth Essay Since the dawn of philosophical thought there has been a desire to find truth. Now exactly what truth is depends upon whom you ask. Philosophers have been searching for truth in various forms for at least as far back as Aristotle in the first century B. C. all the way up to Carl Hempel in the 20th century A. D. To Aristotle and Plato truth was reality; To Descartes truth was found in God; To Hempel truth was found in explanation. None of these are accurate and yet all of them point toward the same truth. Reality, as defined by Plato and Aristotle, God, as proved be Descartes and ideal explanation as modeled by Hempel, all allude to the same thing. They point out that mankind is a finite being and that truth is only attainable in infinite understanding, an impossibility of man at our current stage of development. Two of the earliest known men to approach the study of reality, or metaphysics were Plato and his student/rival Aristotle. These two inquisitors of reality looked at it from opposite schools of thought. Plato sought after answers by looking at the world with an outside/in point of view. Meaning he used what he perceived in the world to draw conclusions. Aristotle on the other hand approached the world from an inside/out perspective. He applied his thoughts and beliefs to the world. Aristotles beliefs lead to him seeing only one level of reality. He felt there was only one imminent world and that forms existed within particular things. Aristotle held that form had no solitary existence and existed in matter. In order to explain that form is an inherent trait of matter he quotes Antiphon and points out that if you planted a bed and the rotting wood acquired the power of sending up a shoot, it would not be a bed that came up, but wood. (Matthews, pg. 9) To Aristotle the form of the matter was wood and form is the unchanging reality. Platos view of metaphysics shows two realms to our reality: there is the realm of changing, sense-perceptible, becoming things and a realm of forms; eternal, fixed, and perfect. The realm of form was the source of all reality and of all true knowledge. Both Plato and Aristotle use form to describe reality, which to them is truth, as being eternal in nature. So truth is eternal, or infinite in nature, but what of Platos other realm, the realm of perception. Plato, in the republic, gives an in depth explanation of how he views this sense-perceptible realm. He uses his allegory of the cave. In the allegory, Plato compares people, unlearned in his theory of forms, to prisoners chained in a cave. They are unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave and behind them burns a fire. Between the fire and the prisoners there is a parapet, along which puppeteers can walk. The puppeteers, who are behind the prisoners, hold up puppets that cast shadows on the wall of the cave. The prisoners are unable to see these puppets, the real objects that pass behind them. What the prisoners see and hear are shadows and echoes cast by objects that they do not see. Such prisoners would mistake appearance for reality. They would think the things they see on the wall were real. They would know nothing of the real causes of the shadows. So if the prisoners were to talk to one another about a passing object and called it a doll they would think they are talking about a doll, but they are really talking about a shadow. (Plato, Book VII) Plato portrays in his allegory of the cave a dualistic view of truth. He speaks of the eternal properties of form as Aristotle does, but he also adds his insight into mankinds finitude and inability to perceive the realm of forms completely. The fact that people take as truth what they perceive will plague philosophers into the modern era. Much later, in the 17th century A. D., in his Third Meditation Descartes proves the existence of God. He builds his entire argument upon his proof in the previous meditation that in order for him to think, he must exist. From this single observation, Descartes notices that the idea of his existence is very clear and distinct in his mind; based upon this clarity and the fact that he has just determined his own existence, he deduces a rule. All the things that he sees as very clear and very distinct are all true. He then explains that he knows that he is imperfect due to the fact that he has doubts. Clearly, knowing is more perfect than doubting. From this notion, he realizes that within him lies this idea of a perfect being and that he is incapable of producing this idea alone. Descartes also determines several qualities that God possesses merely by observing himself. Descartes thought that whatever ideas he himself had, if they contained perfections, then God would possess them. If the ideas were in any way imperfect, then God would not possess them. The attributes of God that Descartes came up with are that He is infinite, independent, supremely intelligent, supremely powerful, and which created myself and everything else (Descartes, Pg.45). Descartes then makes the point that he has the idea of infinite describing God. At the same time, Descartes is a finite being. Since it has already been established that this more perfect idea of infiniteness cannot come from the less perfect idea of finiteness, the idea could not have originated from Descartes alone. Therefore, Descartes concludes that God necessarily exists and in so doing is infinite. In his Principles on Philosophy Descartes describes how God is the primary cause of motion; and that he always maintains an equal quantity of it in the universe. (Matthews, pg. 99) To Descartes God is the infinite cause and balance in the universe. Descartes states in the beginning of his proof that all things clear and distinct are true. That is no more accurate than saying that all ideas that are ambiguous to someone are unconditionally untrue. He also states, the existence of God depends on the clarity and distinctness with which we perceive the idea of God. Therefore, if to me, it was not clear and distinct then it would not necessarily be true. But the clarity and distinctness of our thoughts depends on the existence of God. This seems to be a very circular argument and is dependent on the existence of God to prove the existence of God. Again human perception falls short of truth. Do people understand truth more in more modern settings? Over the course of the 20th century Carl Hempel came up with two models of human explanation that he organized as ideals. Bas Van Fraassen puts forth a few problems with the models. The problems he states are; asymmetry, relevance, low probability, and legality. These are not the problems with the models. The real problems come from, as Hempel puts it, the universal laws invoked?can have only been established on the basis of a finite body of evidence, which surely affords no exhaustive verification. (Balashov, pg. 51) He also says that because of this all the laws used in the deductive-nomological method of explanation are all only probabilistic. This means that the only method that Hempel actually explains is his probabilistic method. Since all laws have been shown to be probabilistic the problem falls back to the fact that they been established on the basis of a finite body of evidence and therefore causes an epistemological problem. We cant define to what degree our laws are true. We cant know the probability of these laws on an infinite scale. Hempels models should be taken as models for ideal situations, for if we had the knowledge of infinity then the laws needed would be defined and all of the infinite variables could be accounted for. So true explanation can only be attained with infinite understanding. The search for truth is as old as man himself. The world in which we live seems as true to us as anything. We see, feel, smell and touch what is around us and yet we cannot accept that that is all there is. Man instinctively has a need to organize, order and explain the universe. We have concepts like reality, God and perfection, all of which we cannot completely grasp. We are not perfect and we are not sure what it means to be real, for we know only what we can sense and yet we know our senses can fool us or be wrong. If our senses and thoughts are the only way for us to interpret the universe and they can be fooled then we cannot know what is real. We cannot fully explain anything. And yet we have a need, a desire for a force that is infinite and true. We name that force God. For in God is explanation and truth and the infinite understanding that we lack. God is what we use to explain Platos form and we are the shackled prisoners in a cave of illusion. Work Cited Balashov, Yuri and Rosenberg, Alex. Philosophy of Science: Contemporary Readings. Routledge: Taylor and Francis Group. NY  ©2002 Descartes. God and Human Nature: Third Meditation Matthews, Michael. The Scientific Background to Modern Philosophy. Hackett Publishing Co. Indianapolis  ©1989 only probabilistic. This means that the only method that Hempel actually explains is his probabilistic method. Since all laws have been shown to be probabilistic the problem falls back to the fact that they been established on the basis of a finite body of evidence and therefore causes an epistemological problem. We cant define to what degree our laws are true. We cant know the probability of these laws on an infinite scale. Hempels models should be taken as models for ideal situations, for if we had the knowledge of infinity then the laws needed would be defined and all of the infinite variables could be accounted for. So true explanation can only be attained with infinite understanding. The search for truth is as old as man himself. The world in which we live seems as true to us as anything. We see, feel, smell and touch what is around us and yet we cannot accept that that is all there is. Man instinctively has a need to organize, order and explain the universe. We have concepts like reality, God and perfection, all of which we cannot completely grasp. We are not perfect and we are not sure what it means to be real, for we know only what we can sense and yet we know our senses can fool us or be wrong. If our senses and thoughts are the only way for us to interpret the universe and they can be fooled then we cannot know what is real. We cannot fully explain anything. And yet we have a need, a desire for a force that is infinite and true. We name that force God. For in God is explanation and truth and the infinite understanding that we lack. God is what we use to explain Platos form and we are the shackled prisoners in a cave of illusion. Work Cited Balashov, Yuri and Rosenberg, Alex. Philosophy of Science: Contemporary Readings. Routledge: Taylor and Francis Group. NY  ©2002 Descartes. God and Human Nature: Third Meditation Matthews, Michael. The Scientific Background to Modern Philosophy. Hackett Publishing Co. Indianapolis  ©1989.

Impact of Tourism on the Hula

Impact of Tourism on the Hula Introduction: The performances of Hula represent traditions, histories customs of Hawaiian Culture. The nature of tourism industry impacts on the art of Hula as the performance is represented. The representation of Hula is modified and reduced to meet tourists expectations.ÂÂ   When most tourists think about Hula, the first impression in their mind is the head moving Hula dancer doll which is placed on the dashboard of American cars. Hula is being performed knowing the knowledge and the interest level of the tourists about the Hawaiian culture. Traditional hula was performed by men and women together, however, now only female dancers perform on stage wearing coconut bras and grass skirts, therefore, the Tourist Art is a useful term to describe the representation of Hula at tourist venues in the Asia-Pacific region. (Brush, 2005) Hula is ancient Polynesian dance which is performed by chants bodily gestures. This dance form was developed by Polynesians who settled in the Hawaiian Islands. Hula has become the symbol of Hawaii and the culture of Hawaiian people. The hula is performed by both men and women but as per the claim of Hawaiians, it was only performed by the men. The Hula only represents the dance form of Hawaiians, all other Polynesian cultures have their own dance forms. For example, The Samoans dance form is called the sasa or lapalapa, the Maoris dance form is called haka, the Tongans dance form is called lakalaka and the Tahitians dance form is called aparima. There are many types of hula in the Hawaiian culture but two main types hulas Hula Auana and Hula Kahiko are more famous than the others. Hula Kahiko is an ancient form of hula which was performed by the Hawaiians wearing traditional costumes and signing ancient chants before western came to Hawaii. Hula Auana was developed with the involve ment of westerns in 19th 20th century. This art form was performed with the westerns outfits and musical instruments like guitar and drums. In the 19th century, with the influence of Christianity hula started disappearing and became a forgotten art. The hula was changed and recreated drastically in the beginning of 20th century and became a commodity performed for tourists, such as the Kodak Hula Show. The traditional hula was preserved by only a few practitioners in the community. (Lakainapali, 2004) The tourism industry developed in the mid of 19th century with the advancement in the aviation industry. And with the same new class of people called Tourist was born with the desire to explore the world and different culture. The hula was transformed into Tourist Art when it became a paid performance to entertain the tourists. The Royal Hawaiian hotel changed the performance of Hula to increase tourists interest into how and who can perform the Hula in front of the tourists. The normal tourist was looking to visit Hawaii in search of Island Life and how Authentic people live with nature and live their life. The tourists were visiting Hawaii to see the life before modernization. So the performances were recreated in order to increase interest level of the tourists which alienated locals and the local Hawaiian people started thinking that these performances are only designed for the tourists only and it created a negative impression. To the Hawaiian people the image of hula girl is de meaning. Tourists believe that the hula girl and represented hulas are Authentic Hawaiian. However, These performances are nothing but the adopted version of the original hula. Another reason for the hula modification was to manage and complete the hula representation on time and within the tourists time schedule. The tourists are visiting Hawaii for the limited period of time where they expect to know about Hawaiian life and culture as much as possible. As their time is divided among different activities they are going to do on the island, they have very limited time for the hula performance. The traditional hula was unnecessarily sexualized and made sensual, the movement of hips and legs in dance steps are seen as sexual by the visitors. As per the writer Molly Brush, till 1950s the hula was transformed totally into tourist commodity. In 1920s the hula was performed in the theaters in solos, this performance was performed by mainly local Hawaiian people in Hawaiian language and dances were allowed to have their original look which made hula authentic. However, in 1950s the hula was shifted to outdoor stage and was performed by a large number of dancers. They also added the Tahitian fire dance into the performance to increase the element of interest and entertainment. The hand movement and gestures were changed and by the time it was no longer preference of individuals, all the dancers had to move hips and hand gestures at the same time. Once the hotel started charging the tourist for the for the hula performance, it became the most profitable tourist attraction. The tourist from 1920s was not looking for entertainment; they were in search to know the culture. The tourists wanted to see every dance to perform hula as per their own creative ways and ideas.ÂÂ   However, now it was converted to solely entertainment. (Brush, 2005) On October 12, 1963, the theme park was opened in Oahu Hawaii with name of the Polynesian Cultural Center. The PPC was established by Mormon Church in forty acres of land with theater, gift shops, restaurants and the seven Polynesian villages representing the culture of different Polynesian islands such as Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji, Tahiti, Tonga and Aotearoa. Each village was build with the different replicas of different islands demonstrating the crafts, daily customs and arts. The PCC claimed itself living museum and preserves and demonstrates and art and culture of Polynesia. (Purpose And History Of Polynesian Cultural Center) The center started charging tourists forty dollars and promised tourist to show the islands as they hoped the way it would be. However, these activities were performed by the Mormon Church College students who are pretending be real Polynesians and doing traditional activities in authentic native dresses. The PCC was started getting criticism from historians and anthropologists for earning revenue in the name of preserving culture and authenticity. As per the writer T. D. Webb, tourist art is the art which is recreated for the tourists and the purpose of this art to provide entertainment, souvenirs, and mementos to the tourists. The intention of producing a Tourist art to gain economic benefits and to increase business based on cultural tourism. The PCC and The Royal Hawaiian Hotel has produced this tourist art to create audiences which are the tourists and to earn revenue out of it. The article of Molly Brush was in brief about how hula was modified from 1920s to 1950s and how the changed tourists requirements changed the form of hula. The idea and definition given by T.D. Webb seem more comparable to the term tourist art.ÂÂ   (Webb, 1994) The authenticity means which is original, real and genuine. However, everyone has a different argument when it comes to authenticity in the tourism. It is very difficult to create cultural tourism which is suitable to all tourists needs. Authenticity is divided between two forms, product, and experience. The authenticity of the product can be easily measured such as crafts, carvings, and paintings which a tourist can buy in a physical form. And the other form of authenticity is experience, which is very crucial, this authenticity can be in form of plays, dances, and culture that tourist can see and feel. In the 19th century, when tourists interest increased in Hawaiian culture, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel started performances of hula as a commodity as a staged authenticity. Staged authenticity is when host organization recreates the form of a culture which is representing local culture, values, and lifestyle of the local people. Culture, values and traditions are valuable to local peopl e which are being ignored and beings less important against that tourist wants to see and would like to pay for. (Taylor, 2001) Conclusion: The commoditization of hula is the result of religious changes, modernizations and colonialism. And the Royal Hawaiian Hotel took the opportunity and changed hula performance into commodity. The most tourists visiting Hawaii are interested in Hawaii Culture and would like to know the authentic culture of Hawaiian people. The regular tourist and Hawaiian people, who are leaving in Hawaii from many years, are disappointed that the hula is being forgotten art and they are unable to see authenticity. Many native Hawaiian believes that its very important for tourists to respect Hawaiian culture and for the same the tourists should experience the real native Hawaiian culture. Tourism plays very important role in recreating the way tourists will know the new culture and different people. Its a responsibility of people who are involved in tourism business to present correct way of cultural tourism. They might claim that tourism has increased visitors in Hawaii and its beneficial for the econ omy of Hawaii, however these businesses had only created jobs in Hawaii as Waiters and Maids. The performance of hula can be impressive even without sexualized costumes.

African-American Street Gangs in Los Angeles :: Gangs Crime Essays

African-American Street Gangs in Los Angeles In Los Angeles and other urban areas in the United States, the formation of street gangs increased at a steady pace through 1996. The Bloods and the Crips, the most well-known gangs of Los Angeles, are predominately African American[1] and they have steadily increased in number since their beginnings in 1969. In addition, there are over 600 active Hispanic gangs in Los Angeles County with a growing Asian gang population numbering approximately 20,000 members. Surprisingly, little has been written about the historical significance of black gangs in Los Angeles (LA). Literature and firsthand interviews with Los Angeles residents seem to point to three significant periods relevant to the development of the contemporary black gangs. The first period, which followed WWII and significant black migrations from the South, is when the first major black clubs formed. After the Watts rebellion of 1965, the second period gave way to the civil rights period of Los Angeles where blacks, including those who where former club members who became politically active for the remainder of the 1960s. By the early 1970s black street gangs began to reemerge. By 1972, the Crips were firmly established and the Bloods were beginning to organize. This period saw the rise of LA’s newest gangs, which continued to grow during the 1970s, and later formed in several other cities throughout the United States by the 1990s. While black gangs do not make up the larges t or most active gang population in Los Angeles today, their influence on street gang culture nationally has been profound. In order to better understand the rise of these groups, I went into the original neighborhoods to document the history which led to these groups. There are 88 incorporated cities and dozens of other unincorporated places in Los Angeles County (LAC). In the process of conducting this research, I visited all of these places in an attempt to not just identify gangs active in Los Angeles, but to determine their territories. Through several weeks of field work and research conducted in 1996, I identified 274 black gangs in 17 cities and four unincorporated areas in LAC. Post WWII to 1965 The first major period of black gangs in Los Angeles began in the late 1940s and ended in 1965. There were black gangs in Los Angeles prior to this period, but they were small in numbers; little is known about the activity of these groups.

Byzantium is short for the Byzantine Empire

Byzantium is short for the Byzantine Empire. It can also be used to refer to the capital city of the Roman Empire, later renamed Constantinople after Emperor Constantine who rebuilt the city into a modern capital of Christianity at the time. Byzantine was heavily influenced by Greece and the Greek culture. With that came the Greek mythical gods and icon culture representing ones religious beliefs. Constantinople also became the seat of the pope of the Catholic Church (â€Å"History of the Byzantine Empire†).Icons can be defined as representations of deities, saints or sacred scenes such as the crucifixion of Christ. In the Byzantine Empire these were very popular and were made from any medium including gemstones, wood, stone, marble, enamel, precious metal, and mosaic. Additionally, they ranged in size from small to huge and were even painted on walls as murals (Brookes). It was believed that these icons would bring success in battle and were often carried when troops were goi ng to war. They were also believed to bring healing to the sick and good fortune.By being in contact with the icons, it was said that one was able to directly communicate with the deity or saint represented by the icon (Brookes). As the culture of creating icons grew, it began to clash with the teachings of Christianity which had taken root as a major religion in the Byzantine Empire. The first commandment in the 10 commandments given to Moses clearly stated that there should be no graven images made as this would make the people prone to the worship of idols. As such, iconoclasm took root. The term iconoclasm means ‘image breaker’ which referred to the habit of breaking images for political or religious reasons.In ancient times, if a ruler was conquered by another, any image of that ruler was quickly broken by their successor or conqueror, hence the term. In Byzantium, iconoclasm referred to a theological debate that spanned about a century between the state and the ch urch (Brookes). As Christianity grew, the creation of icons was barred by the state and the cross was promoted as the only representation of the church. The main motivation for this was so the people would stop looking to the icons as the source of their healing, good fortune and success and start looking to Christ and by so doing discourage veneration of the icons.The issues surrounding the icons were that whereas one faction saw the icons as a representation of their faith and salvation, the other group saw them as mere idols. Their argument being that the only representation of Christ given to the church was the holy Eucharist, or Holy Communion (Trakakis). The iconoclast found a dilemma in the icons in that an image of Christ was supposed to capture the humanity of Christ without taking away the divinity. However, the Godhead could not very well be represented by an image of Christ.The Iconophile, saw it as not trying to capture the divinity or humanity of Christ but the person of Christ, which then tied the human and divine together. To the Iconophile, the fact that Christ had come in a human body made a depiction of him possible. Therefore whereas Iconoclasts were bent on depicting the spirit as superior to matter, the Iconophile so the created matter as a perfect means to see God in the created matter thus deifying the said matter. This became the crux of the controversy (Trakakis).Procopius’ book â€Å"Secret History† had been hidden for centuries until it was discovered in the Vatican library and printed in 1623 AD (Glenn). Procopius was a famous historian in the time that Justinian ruled Byzantium. Having written other texts on the Roman Empire in the 6th century, he wrote this secret book that gave the details of how Justinian and his wife Theodora a former courtesan plundered Rome and murdered millions of people. Justinian is said to have forced people into the Christian faith, while his actions remained decidedly contrary to its teac hings.He and Theodora made people pay for Justice, belittled their needs and robbed Roman citizens of their property and money. Justinian would side with priests who stole and murdered and even took property from citizens to give to the church thinking that he would have favor with God for doing so (Altwater) This book is significant because it reveals a different side of the history of Byzantium in the time of Justinian, unlike the official annals of history written for the empire. In the Byzantine Empire, Pagan art was seen as leading people to false gods. It was mainly based on the polytheistic Greek gods and was figural.As such, it was shunned by the growing Christian population. Due to the iconoclasm controversy, much of the art of the Byzantine Empire did not reflect one figural scene to avoid the said controversy. Because of the persecution that followed Christians who supported icons, Byzantine religious art shrunk to focus mainly on the cross and symbolic birds and plants ( â€Å"The Byzantine Empire†). The Byzantine Empire is an intriguing time with tales like no other. Ranging from the amphitheaters to the arena where offenders where crucified to death or torn to pieces by wild animals.The religious mix was no less intriguing and the rise of Christianity in the Byzantine Empire brought with it many controversies. Justinian became an enforcer of Christianity in the empire causing its spread, but at the same time going against the tenets of the faith according to the ‘Secret History’ by Procopius. Additionally, because of the first of the Ten Commandments, there arose a controversy as to whether icons were graven images, which were forbidden, or not. This in turn affected the way the people of Byzantium perceived pagan art, which was mainly based on pagan gods, goddesses and symbols.As such, Byzantine religious art was narrowed down to include the cross and other symbols that bespoke Christianity without compelling veneration. Works Cited Atwater, Richard. â€Å"Procopius of Caeasrea: The Secret History. † Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1961. 10 Mar. 2009 Brooks, Sarah. â€Å"Icons and Iconoclasm in Byzantium†. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. 10 Mar. 2009 Glenn, Joshua.â€Å"A Brief History of Secret Histories. † 2008. 10 Mar. 2009 â€Å"History of the Byzantine Empire. † 24 Feb. 2009. 10 Mar. 2009 â€Å"The Byzantine Empire: The Roman-Byzantine Period. † 10 Mar. 2009 Trakakis, Nick. â€Å"What was the Iconoclast Controversy About? † Theandros. 2 vols. 2004-2005. 10 Mar. 2009

Definition and Examples of Conversational Implicature

Definition and Examples of Conversational Implicature In pragmatics, conversational implicature is  an indirect or implicit speech act: what is meant by a speakers utterance that is not part of what is explicitly said. Also known simply as implicature.  Contrast with explicature. What a speaker intends to communicate, says L.R. Horn, is characteristically far richer than what she directly expresses; linguistic meaning radically underdetermines the message conveyed and understood (The Handbook of Pragmatics, 2005). Example Dr. Gregory House: How many friends do you have?Lucas Douglas: Seventeen.Dr. Gregory House: Seriously? Do you keep a list or something?Lucas Douglas: No, I knew this conversation was really about you, so I gave you an answer so you could get back to your train of thought.(Hugh Laurie and Michael Weston, Not Cancer. House, M.D., 2008) Inferences The probabilistic character of conversational implicature is easier to demonstrate than define. If a stranger at the other end of a phone line has a high-pitched voice, you may infer that the speaker is a woman. The inference may be incorrect. Conversational implicatures are a similar kind of inference: they are based on stereotyped expectations of what would, more often than not, be the case. (Keith Allan, Natural Language Semantics. Wiley-Blackwell, 2001) Origin of the Term Conversational Implicature The term [implicature] is taken from the philosopher H.P. Grice (1913-88), who developed the theory of the cooperative principle. On the basis that a speaker and listener are cooperating, and aiming to be relevant, a speaker can imply a meaning implicitly, confident that the listener will understand. Thus a possible conversational implicature of Are you watching this programme? might well be This programme bores me. Can we turn the television off? (Bas Aarts, Sylvia Chalker, and Edmund Weiner, Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 2014) Conversational Implicature in Practice Generally speaking, a conversational implicature is an interpretive procedure that operates to figure out what is going on. . . . Assume a husband and wife are getting ready to go out for the evening: 8. Husband: How much longer will you be?9. Wife: Mix yourself a drink. To interpret the utterance in Sentence 9, the husband must go through a series of inferences based on principles that he knows the other speaker is using. . . . The conventional response to the husbands question would be a direct answer where the wife indicated some time frame in which she would be ready. This would be a conventional implicature with a literal answer to a literal question. But the husband assumes that she heard his question, that she believes that he was genuinely asking how long she would be, and that she is capable of indicating when she would be ready. The wife . . . chooses not to extend the topic by ignoring the relevancy maxim. The husband then searches for a plausible interpretation of her utterance and concludes that what she is doing is telling him that she is not going to offer a particular time, or doesnt know, but she will be long enough yet for him to have a drink. She may also be saying, Relax, Ill be ready in plenty of time. (D. G. Ellis, From Language to Communication. Routledge, 1999) The Lighter Side of Conversational Implicature in The Office Jim Halpert: I dont think Ill be here in 10 years.Michael Scott: Thats what I said. Thats what she said.Jim Halpert: Thats what who said?Michael Scott: I never know, I just say it. I say stuff like that, you know- to lighten the tension when things sort of get hard.Jim Halpert: Thats what she said.(John Krasinski and Steve Carell, Survivor Man. The Office, 2007)