3.780 no and yes, cont. (49)

Willard McCarty (MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca)
Thu, 23 Nov 89 18:01:54 EST

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 3, No. 780. Thursday, 23 Nov 1989.


(1) Date: Wed, 22 Nov 89 21:09 AST (20 lines)
From: TETRO@AC.DAL.CA
Subject: Re: 3.769 no vs. yes

(2) Date: Wed, 22 Nov 89 23:17:00 EST (9 lines)
From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU>
Subject: Re: 3.769 "no" outranks "yes"; "it" becomes "italian" (81)

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 22 Nov 89 21:09 AST
From: TETRO@AC.DAL.CA
Subject: Re: 3.769 no vs. yes

I was intrigued by Michael Hawley's astounding discovery of the
statistical preponderance of the "no" over "yes" in the Bible.
It reminds me of J. S. Mill's observation that in Christianity
"thou shalt not" predominates over "thou shalt". Can it true
that the repressiveness of the Victorian religious ethos pervades
its literature too (cf.the Alice in Wonderland stats)?

Perhaps the spirit of negation is somewhat over-emphasized in the
English literary tradition though. On the other side of the balance
I would place Molly Bloom's immortal words at the end (dare I say
"climax"?) of Joyce's Ulysses: "Yes Yes O Yes". Can anyone think of
other such openly affirmative texts, or will the nay-sayers carry
the day? Get out your e-texts!

Ronald Tetreault/English/Dalhousie University

(2) --------------------------------------------------------------15----
Date: Wed, 22 Nov 89 23:17:00 EST
From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@OAC.UCLA.EDU>
Subject: Re: 3.769 "no" outranks "yes"; "it" becomes "italian" (81)

As for "No," negation, there is a short interesting metapsychological
essay somewhere in the Collected Papers of Professor Freud, on the
Origin of Negation. I forget the exact title; but the key thought is
that the Id, or the Unconscious does not know the word for NO, nor the
category. It knows only YES. (It NOes only the YES?) Kessler at UCLA