| EQI.org Home | Imperatives Commands What if I were on a bus and I went to the driver and said "Stop!", but I gave him no explanation for why he should stop. Would he be likely to stop for me, as I told him to? Would most people expect him to stop for me, just because I said "stop"? I thought about this when I was traveling on a bus the other day here in Thailand. I wondered what I would do if I found myself in great need of a toilet, for example. The bus driver probably would not speak English. And I don't speak Thai. But what if he understood the word "stop"? but he didn't understand why? I would imagine he would not stop the bus just because I wanted him to. Yet if I had a gun, he would understand that. If I said "stop" and held a gun to his head, I imagine he would stop the bus. Or if I had some kind of uniform that he recognized, or if a police officer, dressed in his uniform, told him to stop, he might just do so, with no explanation given. He would stop simply because he believe someone with authority was telling him to stop. Now let's think about a parent telling a child or a teenager to do something, in other words, giving them some command, like "wash your hands," "go to bed," "go to your room," "get up," "get ready for school." What would motivate the child or teen do what the parent ordered or commanded them to do? Maybe I will write more about this, but for now I wanted to give you something to think about. S. Hein -- Related Cooperation | Obedience | Imperatives | Red Lights and Registration Cards |
Other EQI.org Topics: Emotional Intelligence | Empathy |