October 21, 2016

October 21, 2016

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Engineer

Dear Reader,

One of the complaints I often hear is that the distinction between Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB) and Noxious Verbal Behavior (NVB) deals with absolutes. Presumably there are no absolutes. However, when you experience the difference between SVB and NVB, you agree with me this difference is absolute and very tangible. To most of us it comes as a great shock that we have believed in such nonsense for a long time.

It is not anybody’s fault we that weren’t able to get to the SVB/NVB distinction earlier than this. The fact that we are only now getting to it is based on how we are and were affected by environments. There is no right or wrong about growing up with this or that language or culture.

Within each language or culture people go back and forth between SVB and NVB. If you watch the news you get about 95% NVB and only 5% SVB; war, pollution, crime, corruption, addiction and financial problems, but also something to feel good: a dog that found its way back home.

The media’s exploitation of NVB and neglect SVB doesn’t stimulate us to go back and forth and everyone is mostly stuck with NVB. If there was recognition of the difference between SVB and NVB, we would see and hear people going back and forth between SVB and NVB and we would see and hear the increase in SVB and the decrease in NVB.

When we would have longer SVB and shorter NVB episodes it would become more obvious to us when NVB or SVB is happening. Right now SVB is so unusual that we give a supernatural explanation for it, but this prevents us from realizing it is a natural phenomenon. We don’t need to talk with a higher power, but we need to talk with each other.