Seduction impossible pdf download

Before the final 'I do', women usually test men. As you just read it! It is on purpose! She's actually expecting that you will not allow her to dominate you.

Learn how to handle that situation without being neither rude nor treating her unchivalrously, and as a last tip, do not think you are living all the time under this test. There is no need to be defensive either. Other tests women do? One of the women I interviewed confessed me she carried out three tests on her man before actually getting married with him: She made him drink until he could drink no more, to see if he got aggressive with her when he was intoxicated.

She also spent a whole afternoon teasing, pestering, annoying, bothering, and humiliating him as she wanted to find out if he was capable of hitting or insulting her when he was really angry or whether he was resentful. The third one was going to a dangerous neighborhood, to see if he was afraid of being held-up or assaulted, or to see if he would abandon her in a dangerous situation.

Because when a woman ultimately becomes a mother something almost women want to become sooner or later , she knows she will be in a very vulnerable situation. Some women will be always ready to sacrifice her job, career, friends and other things just to be able to look after her children; she wants to make sure her man will not leave her on her own when she most needs to be supported.

Maybe, but it is the way they are Help her feel safe in all these ways and she will be yours as long as you want. However, it only takes some patience, time and a little determination to decipher even the most confusing female behavior.

We all dream of the perfect woman, some people love blonds, smarts, humor and a small dose of spo ta eit , othe s lo e u ets, i tellige t, ell spoke , a ti ulate a d o e usi ess o ie ted. If you want to attract the woman of your dreams, you need to become the man who might attract that women, what do I mean? If you decided you want to attract a wealthy women, intelligent, well spoken, and royal-like — you might not choose to look for her in a sleazy bar in the east village I refer to New York in this book since I am from the big city, but this is relevant to all states and natiions ; in this case, you might want to hang around at golf clubs, social events, charity events, etc.

If you decided that you wish to attract a model, career oriented, spontaneous and a bit wild, you may want to look for her in a more suitable location, you need to behave differently, think and act like she would. These 5 easy steps will help you get started: Step 1: Do some research. Spend some time with your female friends, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, female cousins and pick their brains. Don't be afraid to ask some pressing questions. You'll be surprised at how much you can learn about female behavior, habits, interests and desires just by spending time with your female friends and relatives.

An observant male will learn everything he's ever wanted to know about the female species. This exercise will also help to eliminate some of the confusion that men feel when faced with the sometimes unpredictable nature of women. As you go through all the following steps, you will soon begin to realize that women only appear confusing and unpredictable because they are actually insecure. Step 2: Get out of your comfort zone.

As a red-blooded male, you are most likely as emotionally reserved as they come. You would never let someone see you cry, right? Well, if you want to understand women in relationships, get ready to wear your heart on your sleeve.

Most women are very emotional and they expect their men to be more in touch with their emotions as well. Thus, you have to learn to open up and not keep all your feelings bottled up inside as usual. Express yourself emotionally by letting down your guard and confiding in her about any life-changing events or experiences, such as the death of a loved one.

As you continue to share your innermost emotions with her, you will notice the bond between you growing immensely. More importantly, you will realize that, for women, sharing emotions and stories are an extremely important part of a relationship.

Step 3: Listen to what she has to say. This requires staying silent on your part. You have probably conditioned yourself to look as though you're listening when, in fact, your mind is somewhere else completely. It's time to stop such disrespectful behavior and get used to giving the woman in your life your undivided attention.

A key to understanding women in relationships is realizing that they love to talk about and share their deepest feelings, fears and desires with their significant others. All you have to do is listen. Most of the time you don't even have to give any advice because all she wants is to know that you care.

Just listening intently is enough, and will be warmly appreciated. Next time the two of you have a disagreement or argument; do not give her the silent treatment. No matter how difficult it may be for you, you must let go of your pride and approach her for a genuine conversation. Ignoring her will only make you appear infantile and immature. Moreover, when she asks you if something's wrong, don't give a shrug and say "nothing.

So, make an effort to become an honest and sensitive communicator. Women prioritize relationships, and they must feel confident that the relationship is a priority in your life as well. If you refuse to open up, you will only make the woman in your life feel more insecure and uncertain about the relationship, and this will only make her behavior seem that much more confusing.

Step 5: Walk a mile in her shoes. It's not easy being a woman in a man's world. Women don't have the same opportunities and privileges as a man. You will gain a much broader understanding of women in relationships if you simply take the time and effort to acknowledge the struggles and disappointments that women face. Basically, try to look at the world from a female viewpoint, but be aware that the view may be quite overwhelming. As you become familiar with some of the hardships that women face such as being a single mom, earning less than a man, being stereotyped and underappreciated , you will gain a much deeper understanding of a woman's mind and heart.

Bottom line? Keep an open mind, be sensitive to a woman's experiences, make her feel loved and special, confide in her to let her know you trust her and listen to her. Just try to avoid stereotypes and get to know the woman you really have in front of you.

It is a "Trump" attribute, which means that its presence is a more powerful influence than others and can tip the scales of emotional acceptance in your favor immediately. Be advised that I will be dealing with a monumental but accurate generalization which is not meant to apply to every female who ever lived. I bow to the variability within and between the sexes. Nonetheless, you will see that my assertion has the undeniable thud of the obvious.

If you feel the cold chill of disbelief or the fever of indignation rising in you at these words, please consult with Woody Allen, a cunning expert at attracting beautiful talented women on the sheer force of this "Trump" attribute which draws women like What women want from men is confidence. The Trump is Personal Confidence. Women just love truly confident men. Now as you know, confidence is an attitude thing.

In particular, male confidence frequently manifests as an "I-can-handle-it attitude". This does ot ea that feeli gs a e de ied. A delusion of total self sufficiency is not required. Confidence simply says: "Sure I can". For hundreds of thousands of years of human development, a confident attitude was much easier for men to gain and display than it is now because it was required for survival.

There was hardly any choice. Until recently, the demands of physical survival were the primary issue in pair-bonding and confidence- building roles for both sexes directly related to survival was far more apparent. I am not talking about survival in extraordinary circumstances, either. It could be as basic as steadfastness in getting the crops in out of the rain.

Wh hell! These roles, decreed by harsher realities of life than most of us now experience, were obvious advertisements for male virtue, i. Unfortunately, the signs indicative of genuine masculine confidence are confusing today and gender roles are a chaotic mess.

The external demonstrations of natural confidence have become confused with the poo su stitute of o su e status s ols. But it cannot be faked with money, looks, or possessions. I o te po a times, a man may express this dynamic in many conventional ways.

He can show his confidence integrity through competence in his work, education, sports, hobbies, child rearing, or doing home improvements. Actually, we can include here anything which involves mastering a new learning curve and overcoming ego uncertainties.

Now, if a man really wants to do some crash confidence building these days, he can try still the old- fashioned approach - and many do so. He can expose himself to more risks and bigger risks: jump out of a few airplanes, compete at martial arts, ski board off of snowy mountains, lift weights, climb sheer cliffs with only the strength of his fingertips for security, take on dangerous political controversies, start an unusual new business with more enthusiasm than capital, confront and influence provocative teenagers, or spend days in the wilderness with only his tom-tom for company.

But we all know perfectly well that these are methods not character outcomes. He can work directly at becoming more confident ith o e the sel es. Although a woman likes to believe a man is willing to deal with a lot of things, what really counts is that he is able to deal with her. A healthy, mature woman resists impassioned commitment to a man who is afraid of her sexuality, her intelligence, or her emotions.

This means gaining confidence and empathy unavoidably stuck together in approaching and relating to women on many levels, in the face of rejections real or imagined.

And since this is the riskiest venture of all, the pay-off is, appropriately, the biggest: the devotion of a loving woman who can make your life extremely pleasant on a daily basis. I ould like to gi e you an exercise. Follo i g is a list. Instead, you listen to your emotions and what your heart says about him. O the othe ha d, ou ha e a ild side as ell. You can even surprise yourself by doing something you never would have thought of. In your relationships, you usually stay passive and expect the man to lead.

You want a real man who a do it. You like it he the man chooses the theater, the film and arranges everything — even when he tells you where to sit. You like surprises. Most of your relationships become boring as time goes by. You get used to the same routines, places and boring sex. You want variety and changes. You want your man to surprise you sometimes and keep you on your toes, to feel the excitement of something new and unknown happening.

You want a man who is creative enough to surprise you. Little details a e i po ta t to ou. Getting a postcard or a phone call and knowing that your boyfriend, or someone you care for, is thinking about you can make you really happy. Such small details can mean more to you than a big bank account or an expensive car. You are oftentimes mildly critical of yourself.

You hate to admit it, but sometimes you might even enjoy this. At times like this, you need a little validation. A compliment about your looks or an inquiring glance from a man can increase your self-esteem. You also have very difficult, self- iti al pe iods. Note: Wo e ha e pe iods. They sometimes get out of bed on the wrong side and are influenced too much by their emotions. Deep inside, you still believe in love at first sight.

But it never really happened to you. You have a picture of the ideal man in your head, your Prince Charming, who will sweep you off your feet, put you on his white horse and rescue you from the castle.

In each of your new relationships, you fantasize about it being perfect, but it never is. Your boyfriends might measure up to 60—70 percent of your ideal guy, but something is always missing. You want the man to initiate the first kiss, and you usually test a man. You set up hoops and expect him to jump through them.

Sometimes you test men too much. A out se : You like it he it just happe s. You like to be swept away by the moment. In bed, you stay passive, but take control when your wild side comes out. You like to experiment and try out new things. Was she stu ed? Ho did ou k o all that a out he? Remember what the list says? Excitement and surprises. Keep her on her toes. Joke ith he. If ou a t to st e gthe the effect, you can even memorize the list. You ight t a ti g like a p ophet a d ead the list ite s i he a ds, he pal or something else.

The list is a general description of an average girl who is in her early 20s and likes going out to clubs.

Read that list a ti es, a d notice the keywords: a real man, staying passive, expecting him to lead, emotions, excitement, variety, little details, being critical a out he self a d othe s, pe iods, lo e at fi st sight, P i e Cha i g.

For men, keywords would be something like: hot girls, good sex, cute faces, big tits and sexy butts, Rational thinking, racing and competitio , halle ge, spo ts a d a s. Ready for more fun? A hundred years ago, women who had sex or children before or outside marriage were labeled whores. But e e toda , afte the se ual e olutio , a gi l ho does the sa e thi g is alled a slut. F o ea l hildhood, gi ls a e told their mothers and fathers to be careful about dating and men. I once read a story about a year-old girl.

She gave a blow job to a classmate, with whom she was in love. After the breakup, the guy went around telling the whole school about the blow job, and everyone ridiculed the girl. In the end, she had to change schools. Social restrictions remain with women throughout their lives due to the influence of friends, colleagues and GUYS.

Yes, you read it right: guys. A girl I know was brought up in a strict Christian manner. At the age of 19, she tried to have sex with a guy she loved. She ended up crying and being unable to continue — just efo e the a t.

It took her Another year and an understanding partner to be able to enjoy sex. Chick logic is about looking for approval from you and her friends. In other words, she eeds to atio alize ha i g se. She will quickly get drunk on all the free drinks she receives.

And guess why her girlfriends are there? To protect her from lea i g ith a gu. Her body is getting aroused and telling her to have sex, but her chick logic kicks in and says: What a e ou doi g?

He ight e e e a stalke! A d hat if ou a t so ethi g more lasting? This guy is so Cute. If you can arouse her enough, her sexual instincts will bypass her logical brain, and the gates will open wide. The do. Have you ever heard a woman screaming during an orgasm?

Believe me; they enjoy it a hundred times more than we do. You should, because you can learn a lot from that series. From their early years, girls long to be Cinderella saved by Prince Charming. They dream of romance every day. Disney films have added to the fantasy. Guys, on the other hand, play with Matchbox cars and dream of becoming football stars or astronauts.

We are fascinated by sports, competition and challenge. What do boys talk about? Late , this e o es hose a is faste and bigger, whose girl is hotter and who earns more.

Such kinds of competition attract women less. They play with Barbie dolls and dress like little princesses or brides. They talk about whose Barbie is cuter and role-play with their dolls. During their teens, they fantasize about their favorite pop stars or dream of falling in love.

Later, this turns into competition in the form of looks, bickering about their relationships and each other, and chatting about the latest trends in fashion. Instead of challenges, they are moved by relationships, fashion, romance and drama. At least, most of them are.

While you would rather watch sports or read a magazine about cars, your girl watches soaps and reads romance novels instead. You will never be able to truly escape this conditioning. Compare the way women are built to our body structure.

They are generally shorter, thinner and weaker, in other words, more fragile. Their most important genitals are inside their bodies: the vagina, the womb, etc. We could say that while men are donors givers , women are acceptors receivers.

During intercourse, they need to open up, not just physically, but emotionally as well. Because of this and all of the above, they tend to focus more on the inside and listen to their emotions.

Women live somewhat in harmony with their emotions — much more so than we do. Girls will often ake de isio s ased o thei feeli gs a d ot o atio al thi ki g.

Social expectations also appear in the form of looks. Be ause of ei g o e se siti e e otio all , the need constant validation from parents, friends and boyfriends. Is lea age tight e ough? Ha e I gotte fat? Do I look ad? Wo e a easil ake a big deal out of the smallest things and tend to attribute other problems they may have to their looks.

Furthermore, girls can be very indecisive at times. Which clothes to wear, where to go, which film to see, whether to leave her previous boyfriend or not — she can get lost among the emotional waves quickly.

As a result, she expects the Man who is stronger and more resolute and confident to free her from this responsibility, to make the decisions himself and to lead her. You will read much more about this in the next chapter. The a e gi i g themselves to you, not just physically, but emotionally as well.

To enjoy sex, a girl needs to open up e otio all a d has to e the e e tall as ell. Most girls need to feel totally safe and comfortable in your company before they can free themselves from such worries. But, once they do, they can experience bigger orgasms than most men.

Although this may make your life a bit harder, realize that it also means you can overcome social restrictions more ui kl. If a o a feels ou t ul at h a d she is o fo ta le i ou ompany, she will never withhold sex.

Although each and every woman is different, they have many traits in common, and their needs change as they grow older. Young girls are less experienced, and they are usually looking for an older man. In their early 20s, many women are moved by overwhelming emotions, excitement, adventure and the feeli g of da ge. Just as young people of both sexes do, they are seeking their identity and happiness.

Part of this involves getting short-term satisfaction from alcohol, drugs, cigarettes and the adrenaline that a dangerous guy can inject into their lives. As they grow older, their biological clocks start ticking, and they realize that if they want children, they have until their mids.

Some girls get married in their mid- or late 20s, then quickly get bored with marriage and the lack of exciting sex. Women develop their sexuality over time, and their sex drive increases. Many of them are willing to cheat on their husbands if a powerful guy appears.

These are rough generalizations. Different kinds of girls respond to different kinds of male ha a te isti s a d pe so alit t pes. First, there are common Manly traits to which most girls respond. Second, you will decide the t pes of o e that suit ou pe so alit the est a d a t i a s to att a t the. But, by developing Manly traits in yourself and getting experience, you will be able to attract the kinds of women you want.

I am going to talk more about this later in the book. I the a i al ki gdo , the e is a interesting concept. In a herd of elephants, for example, there are many females, but only one male, ho se es all of the. This is the alpha ale. Either the challenging male wins and takes the harem, or the alpha male remains in his position.

Females are designed to give birth to one or a few offspring at a time. A male can spread his semen among the females in his herd and have many progeny. This process guarantees that the offspring inherit the most powerful genes and that there is a strong alpha male to protect them. How does this look when projected to us? During the Stone Age, women wanted a man who was powerful enough to hunt down prey and protect the immediate family and the clan from danger.

Since then, values have changed. Women are looking for somebody to bring home money, take care of the kids and provide for the whole family.

Safety comes in the form of cash. Still, many girls are turned on by strong men. Why is this? E e though so iet ha ges, ou i sti ts sta ith us. Basi so ial alues, like att a tio to o e , o e i the fo of thoughts.

On the other hand, instincts come in the form of emotions. When she is with a strong male and he puts his powerful arms around her, she feels a sudden safet. She is about to get married to a guy who will provide for her. What can we learn from this? A girl meets two kinds of guys in her life: the providers and the real Men.

She will marry a provider and have sex with the real Man. The real Man creates such powerful emotions in her with his presence that she is ready to overcome social restrictions ith hi. She waits for that moment to come for her entire life. They will consciously create certain situations to see how you react. A woman will always test how far she can go with you and push to the limit. These tests are used to sort out the males who are not powerful enough and to find a real Man.

If you fall for it, you lose your chance. There are many tests that women use mostly to see if you act consistently within your frame of a Man. For instance, you approach a girl in a club, and she turns her back to you. It mostly depends on her personality, her experience and the number of e she has dealt ith.

Show her that you have your own opinions, you have your own desires, and you are not afraid to act on them.

With experience, you will learn to recognize these tests and pass them by reacting consistently. In Conclusion Women speak a different language. Their language is emotions and not just words. When talking to a o a , use this k o ledge to ha e a igge effe t. Women come with powerful instincts packed inside. To help them overcome social restrictions, try to bring out their instincts by acting like a real Man.

I am a man? Women have a tendency to lament about problems because they want their problems to be acknowledged, while men complain about problems because they are asking for solutions. These are just a few concepts from the book 'Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. From an early age men are taught to be disconnected from their internal feelings. Women are also socialized to expect men to be strong and in control.

According to the Australian Institute of Family Studies survey of divorced men and women ' Towards Understanding the Reasons for Divorce, ' 20 per cent said infidelity was the main cause for their marriage breakdowns but it came third on the list of reasons given for divorce, after communication problems and incompatibility.

At the same time, men very rarely find the comfort they are seeking through affairs. Those who try counseling say that extramarital sex only compounds their feelings of guilt, isolation and despair, which often lead to depression. Those starved of intimacy at home occasionally develop sex addictions, in the same way that bulimics binge harder, with zero relief. The cheater, like the bulimic, is desperately trying to fill an emotional void. Women are fortunate in that they are able to find satisfying emotional connections through networks of friends as well as a deep, physical and emotional intimacy through their children, predominantly newborns and toddlers.

But in our man-as-pillar society, sex is the only way men can achieve emotional closeness. Having more sex can become a desperate search to fill that gap. In a fidelity poll of over women conducted by WomanSavers. Therefore, even if a man doesn't take off his pants, most women seemed to feel that emotional cheating is just as bad as physical cheating. I talked a lot a out ei g a Ma i the p e ious chapter. But what do I mean by this?

This is the most difficult part to understand. Once you really get it down, you will have no problems with women. In order to understand it from our viewpoint, we will look at genetics again. Women are acceptors, while men are donors. An acceptor can choose whether to accept what the donor gives or not. Hot girls are spoiled by the numerous unconditional offers they get and usually reject them flatly.

A hot woman will meet many average Joes every day. Of course, she could select any of them if she wanted. But what she a es is a eal Ma. He has qualities to hi h all gi ls ill espo d. He is o the o e in the position of power.

So, in the end, she will have to do the dirty work and seduce him. And this is how an ideal seduction looks. He expresses his interest in the woman through his attentions. So what do I mean by po e ful? These a e just e te al ualities that can trick a woman into feeling that you are powerful.

True power comes from the inside. A real Man will make her feel like a woman just by his presence. Even if he is naked and without his money, car and clothes, his power radiates from within.

Back to evolution, the most important thing to show your woman is that she can feel safe with you. But, if you are in a restaurant and she is the one who has to choose the table where you sit, then has to order the food while listening to you sa , You a e soooo eautiful. Is this a apa le of p ote ti g her? Does she feel safe with him? So the No. Here are the other two as well: 1. A Man knows how to lead, and he is confident in his role. A Man always has options, self-respect and is never needy.

A Man knows how to treat her. You k o ho ha d it is to be the captain of a ship? You are constantly forced to make decisions and take responsibilities. A slight sign of uncertainty is enough for you to lose the faith of your whole crew and probably the ship as well.

How could 40 people follow their captain if he showed signs of hesitation and uncertainty? If you were in the crew, would you risk your life for such a captain? Not likely. Would you do it for a confident and resolute one who is always certain, even if he makes mistakes at times? You a e the captain. She expects you to lead. At the first sign of uncertainty, she will jump out of your boat and choose another one. You will constantly have to be on your toes whe aki g de isio s.

To be a Man, you have to learn that first. Each and every decision you make will have a consequence. You can postpone making it, but sooner or later, you will have to decide.

And it might be too late by then. Hesitatio is ot a Ma l t ait. You choose the restaurant where you will go with your date. You choose the table where you will sit. Read that sentence again. Psychologists did an interesting experiment: There was a photocopy machine in a school where many students were always in line during breaks waiting their turn to make copies.

He ut to the f o t of the li e a d said, I eed to op these pape s right now, so I can eat my banana before the end of the break. He did it asuall a d o fide tl , as if it were a normal everyday thing to cut to the front of the queue. But what happened next? He stood in the front of the line, did what he wanted and then went to eat his banana. And no one complained! There was no fight, no loud words. There is a difference between real and false confidence, however.

Just wow! This story was hot and unexpected! A Bride for the Black Sheep Brother Millionaire Cooper Larson doesn't care about finding the long-lost Cain heiress, even though a huge inheritance hangs in the balance. Jacqueline Seewald. Rescued from the horrors of a Victorian slum, Maggie Carter is happy with her new position as a maid -- until she is seduced by the son of the house, abused by his father and then cast out and sold into a house of shame.

They met and loved passionately in a time of revolution. What are the principles of the orthodox "cognition model" of AI? As Hofstadter says , most AI work "goes into efforts to build rational thought 'cogni- tion' out of smaller rational thoughts elementary steps of deduction, for instance [ Thus, some AI researchers believe that "the ultimate solution to AI lies in getting better and better theorem-proving mecha- nisms in some predicate calculus"; while others are trying to make " s o m e complex language in which pattern matching or back tracking or inheritance or planning or reflective logic is easily carried out" For Hofstadter, the cognition model of AI is inadequate, and much of the work based on it is misguided.

But what is subcognition? Hofstadter imagines sub- cognition as analogous to an ant colony : "One has to imagine teams of ants cooperating on tasks, and information passing from team to team that no ant is aware of [ I feel it crit- ical to focus on collective phenomena, particularly on the idea that some information or knowledge or ideas can exist at the level of collective activities, while being totally absent at the lowest level.

In fact, one can even go so far as to say that no information exists at that lowest level. There is no central manipulator, no central program. There is simply a vast collection of ' t e a m s ' - patterns of neural firings. The s y m b o l s are not ' d o w n there' at the level of the individual firings; they are 'up here' where we do our verbalization.

We feel those s y m b o l s churning within ourselves in s o m e w h a t the same way as we feel our s t o m a c h churning. Neural firings, it seems, play a large part in Hofstadter's criticism not only of mainstream AI but also of certain linguistic models : " M a n y linguists have maintained that language is a h u m a n activity whose nature could be entirely explained at the linguistic level - in terms of complex ' g r a m m a r s ' , without recourse or reference to any- thing such as thoughts or concepts.

Nowadays many AI people are making a similar mistake: They think that rational thought is simply composed of elementary steps, each of which has some interpretation as an 'atom of rational thought' [ On its own.

Suppose an everyday situation in which indi- vidual moves verbal or non-verbal can be specified, but only in an imprecise way: in that case, the symbols in a brain do not simply play out "a scenario precisely iso- morphic to what actually will transpire", they also play out a few scenarios that are "probable or plausible, or even some scenarios from the past that may have no obvi- ous relevance other than as metaphors" This, says Hofstadter, has inter- esting implications: "Once we abandon perfect mathematical isomorphism as our criterion for symbolizing, and suggest that symbol triggering-patterns are just as related to their suggestive value and metaphorical richness, this severely complicates the question of what it means when we say that a symbol in the brain 'symbolizes' anything.

In this metaphor - a description of the theory of flickering clusters - water molecules apparently stand for neurons, and "statistically emergent p h e n o m e n o n " presumably stands for cognition: "The idea is that water molecules can form small and highly ephemeral hydrogen-bonded clusters [ This is going on, over and over, day and night, second by second, in every tiny drop of water.

The statistically emergent phenomenon, in this case, is the macroscopic nature of water. In particular, such familiar physical properties of water as its boiling point, density, viscosity [ Reduction or seduction: Whither linguistics?

Introduction For cognition and rational thoughts, read Thirdness, rules, symbols, deduction; for subcognition and neural firings, read Firstness, feelings, icons, abduction. But these are not only striking parallels between thinkers of different ages, they also point the way - explicitly in one case, implicitly in the other - to a m o d e o f thinking about language rather different from that of the linguist who first made me aware of abduc- tion, N o a m Chomsky.

A mode of thinking about language which poses the question: are we content to reduce language to its constituents, or are we ready to attempt an analysis o f 'seduction' in language? But before exploring this other mode, I need to discuss another crucial element in Peirce's theory of signs. Peirce and the interpretation of signs One of the best-known principles of Peirce's philosophy is that a sign stands to s o m e b o d y for something in some respect or capacity.

As he wrote in Buchler, 99, CP 2. Now Peirce was a Pragmatist, and more or less adhered to William James' view that the whole 'meaning' of a concept expresses itself either in the shape of conduct to be recommended or of experience to be expected Peirce's actual for- mulation, from , is that "Intellectual concepts [ If a concept is a sign, and if the addressing of a sign to a conscious being influences behaviour, then clearly it is important to understand more precisely what Peirce means by interpretant.

In the same paper Peirce sees three kinds of interpretants Buchler, , CP 5. The first is the emotional interpretant, that is, the feeling evoked by the sign; the second is the energetic interpretant, which may be a physical action or a mental effort; and the third is the logical interpretant, which Peirce refers to broadly as a concept.

Taking his analysis one step further, Peirce posits three stages in the logical interpretant: the first stage, orfirst logical interpretant, involves con- jecture; in the second stage "we proceed to trace out the alternative lines of conduct which the conjectures would leave us open to" Buchler, , CP 5.

Thus the logical interpretant, which from one perspective may be related to Peirce's symbol, can from another point of view be seen in terms of a progression towards the symbol that must pass through the icon and the index, abduction and induction.

Two ways of thinking about language The apparently ambiguous status of the logical interpretant in Peirce's thought sug- gests that there are in fact two modes of thinking about language.

The first mode of thinking about language involves seeing language as cognition, that is, as a product, as the verbal counterpart of rational thoughts - or, in Peircean terms, as symbols, rules, Thirdness. The second mode of thinking about language is a complex two-stage process.

The first stage involves seeing language as subcognition, 'symbols with halos', a statisti- cally emergent phenomenon born of patterns of neural firings triggering other pat- terns of neural firings, sometimes in apparently random ways.

The second stage obliges us to reconcile the earlier cognition model with this new view of language. We can do this in two ways. Taking our cue from Peirce, who appears to see the log- ical interpretant as both concept symbol, deduction , that is, cognition, and mecha- nism for acquiring concepts through abduction and induction, that is, subcognition, we may hypothesise that language can only be understood as a process built up of 'symbols with halos' and 'rational thoughts'.

Or, to return to Peirce's terminology, we may say that languag is essentially symbols, but symbols that arise after a process in which feelings icons couple with indices to become symbols which in turn couple with indices as the icons of new symbols, which in turn What implications do these two ways of thinking about language have for expla- nations of language? I do not want to spend long on the first m o d e of thinking about language, on the model which equates language with cognition.

N o a m C h o m s k y is a good representative of the cognition model - here he is 28 explaining the Cartesian view of the relation between language and mind a view which he appar- ently embraces : "According to this traditional conception, a system of propositions expressing the meaning of a sentence is produced in the mind as the sentence is realized as a physical signal, the two being related by certain formal operations that in current terminology we may call grammatical transformations," O f greater interest for me is the second mode of thinking about language - the belief that language is both cognition and subcognition.

One of the most influential advocates of this view would appear to be the French philosopher Jacques Derrida. The key to understanding the role of subcognition in Derrida's work lies in the phe- n o m e n a of differance and dehiscence. Differance is, of course, based on the Saus- surean principle of difference, but differs from it in fundamental ways. Referring to Saussure' s assertion 1 9 7 4 : 1 1 8 - l 19 that the signifier "is not phonic but incorporeal - constituted not by its material substance but by the differences that separate its sound-image from all others.

Such would be the originary trace. Without a retention in the minimal unit of temporal experience, without a trace retaining the other as other in the same, no difference would do its work and no meaning would appear.

It is the question of a constituted difference here, but rather before all determination of the content, of the pure movement which produces difference. The pure trace is differance. Or as Der- rida says elsewhere 27 : "Differance is the systematic play of differences [ The latter are neither fallen from the sky nor inscribed once and for all in a closed system, a static structure that a synchronic and taxo- nomic operation could exhaust.

Differences are the effects of transformations [ In the following extract Derrida is criticising speech act theorists who maintain that a speech act such as a promise can be felicitous only if sincerely intended by the speaker. The iteration which structures it a priori introduces an essential dehiscence. Derrida explains it thus : "As in the realm of botany from which it draws its metaphorical value, this word marks emphatically that the divided opening, in the growth of a plant, is also what in a positive sense, makes production, reproduction, development possible.

Dehiscence like iterability limits what it makes possible, while rendering its rigor and purity impossible. What is at work here is something like a law of undecidable contamination.

But not in wholly unpredictable ways - as Derrida warns us with phrases like "[not] fallen from the sky" and "limits what it makes possible", abduc- tion always ends up with a final logical interpretant, a 'habit', even if, as Peirce would no doubt say, this became the basis for a further chain of subcognition. One of the few linguists to have seen the importance of subcognition in a description of language is Michael Halliday. Like Peirce he seems to think in threes: he hypothesises that there are three kinds of meaning in lan- guage, namely experiential meaning "language as expressing the speaker's experi- ence of the external world, and of his own internal world, that of his own con- sciousness" ; interpersonal meaning "language as expressing relations among participants in the situation, and the speaker's intrusion into it" - that is, the speak- er's opinions, attitudes and feelings ; and textual meaning the clause's "structure as a message in relation to the total communication process", expressing "its oper- ational relevance".

It is an intriguing exercise to relate Halliday's three types of meaning to Peirce's three types of signs. Thus experiential meaning can be linked to indices and sec- ondness, in that these are predominant in the idea of causation, and causation is obviously a major factor in our experience of the world: this is encapsulated in the system of transitivity, where actions processes can be interpreted as extending or not extending from one entity participant to another, or as simply happening or caused by another entity see Halliday, , and his discussion of the ergativity, or causation-model, versus the more traditional transitivity, or extension- model.

Interpersonal meaning can be related to icons and firstness, since possibili- ties modality and feelings attitude are what speakers bring into speech events. Textual meaning can be associated with symbols and thirdness, given that devices for structuring a message, such as thematisation giving an element first place in the clause and information focus giving an element primary stress in the clause , ensure 'continuity', which, as we saw above, "represents Thirdness alsmost to perfection".

But there are also other ways of looking at the three kinds of meaning. Pike expressed this property of the linguistic system [