Persuasion – Page 9 – understand-culture

Academic language

The University of Oldenburg provides students with guidelines for academic work. One of them reads: “Academic language is objective. Topics are presented subject-independent. The author moves to the background. Write ich-frei.” Literally: I-free or free of I.

Using “I” is considered in German universities to be un-academic, un-scientific. The passive form is used: “The following statements argue that …” or “It can been seen that …” But, isn’t it the case that a person (the author) performed the research and the analysis, and formulated the text?

Passive form

When Germans learn English they are told to avoid the passive form! Active form: “Joe fixed the car.” Passive form: “The car was fixed by Joe.” In Germany the passive form is far more common than the active.

Even when the subject – Joe – is known, Germans still tend to use the passive form: “The car was fixed” (leaving out poor Joe altogether).

Or the Germans will use the so-called one-form: Man wird sehen – one will see – instead of Ich schaue mal – I will take a look. The passive and the one-form are meant to signal objectivity, a distance between messenger and message.

Term paper

German universities have clear guidelines concerning term papers and the formal presentation of their results. Objectivity and precision (accuracy) are a must. Statements not supported by sources are considered invalid.

The focus of the presentation should always be on the subject matter. The discussion thereafter serves the purpose of delving deeper into that subject matter in an objective, impassionate, and academic way.

Distanz! – literally: distance. Personal pronouns (I, he, she, they, we) are avoided, in order to avoid “drifting into subjectivity.” Instead the passive form is expected. German professors watch very closely. Not following these guidelines leads to lower grades, or worse.

Native American Oral Tradition

When European explorers and settlers first arrived in America, there were hundreds of different American Indian nations. Although these tribes had different languages and cultures they shared a rich oral tradition.

The stories that these nations passed down recorded everything from history to cultural beliefs and even to science and technology. Studies by anthropologists David Pendergast and Clement Meighan have shown clear evidence that Native American oral traditions contain real history, and Stephen J. Augustine, the Hereditary Chief and Keptin of the Mi’kmaq Grand Council, has said about the oral tradition that

“(The Elders) did joke with each other and they told stories, some true and some a bit exaggerated, but in the end the result was a collective memory. This is the part which is exciting because when each Elder arrived they brought with them a piece of the knowledge puzzle.

They had to reach back to the teachings of their parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents. These teachings were shared in the circle and these constituted a reconnaissance of collective memory and knowledge. In the end the Elders left with a knowledge that was built by the collectivity.”

Many of the newcomers to America came from cultures that preferred written factual documents over spoken storytelling, and contact with the natives soon blended the two traditions. Now most education and oration in the US contains both forms of information: anecdotal and factual.

Clinton 2012

Bill Clinton’s speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention nominating Barack Obama for a second term as president is considered a masterpiece in persuasion.

Party and platform

German political conventions demonstrate clearly that in Germany, substance is more important than form. For decades the podium was set to the side, with the stage dominated by up to fifty party leaders sitting in three or four extended rows.

And although in recent years the podium has been moved front and center, the stage continues to be dominated by party leaders. The message is clear. The party and its political platform remain front and center.

German political parties also do their best to keep hidden their internal power struggles. Instead they are presented as debates over substance which should be resolved internally and speedily. The politicians involved are quick to state that the battle is not about themselves or political office, but about important issues of substance.

Derrick

Derrick – a Kriminalserie or detective show – remains to date the most successful of all German television shows. Its 281 episodes, filmed from 1973 until 1997, have been translated and shown in 102 countries. Derrick, the detective, is tall, slender, focused, sparing of words, analytical, unemotional. The show is all about his detective work, not about him.

Günter Jauch

Günter Jauch, moderator of the very popular German version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, is known for his dry, rational delivery and his uncanny ability to open up his quiz show guests with wit, irony and subject matter knowledge.

Unimportant who presents

Germans believe that it is unimportant who actually presents the arguments as long as the topic has been understood in both its depth and breadth, analyzed with stringent methods, leads to a logical and actionable conclusion, and is communicated in a structured and clear way. The presenter could be a junior member of the team.

Turned on its head

The Germans are criticized for “thinking things to death”, for overanalyzing. Deep analysis has a long and honored tradition in Germany, however. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, just as one example, wanted to turn Hegel’s philosophy “on its head.”

It is the goal of all great thinkers to explain reality as it is, and not the other way around, to force reality into their theories. All new situations and phenomena should be explainable, at a minimum placed in some logical perspective.

Thinking in systems, in connections and in mutual interdependencies is a red thread (a constant theme) in German philosophy, from Kant to Hegel to Max Weber on to Karl Popper and others of today. It is stressed in schools and universities in all subject areas.