Neil Postman

A literal translation of “John is stupid” (that is, its most scientific meaning) might go something like this: “When I perceive John’s behavior, I am disappointed or distressed or frustrated or disgusted. The sentence I use to express my perceptions and evaluation of these events is ‘John is stupid.’ ” When we say, “John is stupid,” we are talking about ourselves much more than we are talking about John. And yet, this fact is not reflected at all in the statement. The I—the involvement of the perceiver—has been removed by a grammatical peculiarity. Our grammar has forced us to “objectify” our feelings, to project them onto something outside of our skins. “Stupidity” is a grammatical category. It does not exist in “nature.” Yet we imagine that it does because our language has put it there.