Observing Exercise 

Chauncey frequently says: It’s important to notice that we invent the world in language. Further, he adds that most people respond to that assertion with a “nod” of agreement, but they don’t fully experience that speaking and creation and being in the world are deeply connected. This exercise is designed to have us experience the way in which we invent the world in language.

Take a walk in your neighborhood and record your answers to the questions below in writing. 

1.    Yourself

  • What is your name, and where did it come from? Who named you, and in what tradition did they name you?

  • What are you wearing, and where did it come from? Who defined the articles of clothing you are wearing, who branded them, and who taught you to wear those clothes?

  • In what way do you think about the kind of person you are, and from what traditions and what speakers do you take the discourse about the kind of person you are?

2.   Town or city

  • What is the name of the jurisdiction in which you are walking, and who gave it that name, when, and in what traditions?

  • What are the boundaries of the jurisdiction, and who defined those boundaries, and when?

  • In what style or political tradition is the jurisdiction governed, and what recent changes are appearing in the rules and habits of behavior in the jurisdiction?

3.   Roads and paths

  • How did these get here? Who asked for them, who paid for them, who designed them, who installed them?

  • What are the traditions of driving and walking in the jurisdiction? Right or left side of the road? What about the signage? What kinds of rules prevail? Traffic lights? Stop signs? What are the consequences of following the traffic instructions embodied in the signs?

  • Do people in the jurisdiction follow the instructions or not?

4.   Conventions

  • Do strangers greet each other when they pass? Smile at each other?

  • How close to each other do people stand when they are talking?

  • How are others dressed?

  • Who picks up the litter? Do you stop and pick up litter?

5.   Homes

  • Well- or ill-kept?

  • How are the boundaries of properties marked? Are numbers visible on homes?

  • What rooms are on the public sides of the homes? Kitchens? Living rooms? Why? Who put those rooms there?

6.   Woodlands

  • What are the names of the trees and plants you see there? Do you know some of those names? Who gave them those names? Where would you go to find out what their names are and what is the history of naming and thinking about those names?

  • Who put those trees and plants there? In what kind of conversation did they define what would be there, and how they would be arranged?

  • Who cares for the trees and plants? Why?

7.    Enterprises

  • Are the names of the companies displayed on the buildings? Why? Why not?

  • Why are there people in those buildings?

  • How did they get there, really – not that they walked or drove – what language-actions led to their being there?

8.   The Sky

  • Glance at the sky.

  • How many features of the sky can you name? Where did those features get their names?

  • Why are those features important? Why do their names “stick”?

9.   The Earth

  • Feel the earth under your feet.

  • What sensation does it give you?

  • What do you call that sensation?

  • Where did you learn to call the sensation what you called it?

10. Divinities

  • As you have walked and observed, have you experienced the emotions we call “gratitude” or “awe”?

  • How did you express those emotions – to yourself privately or out loud?

11. Final Question

  • What do you notice about your community after this walk that you have not noticed about it before?

  • As you finish your walk, put aside your notes from answers to the questions and bring them to our next meeting.