If one's objective were to unmoor the perspective of the speaker from shared truth and their sense of identity, this seems like the tool. I think they used to call it "brainwashing." I'm still trying to source it, but I remember knowing some people who went on these language trips that were very political and there was a trend in leaning Spanish that was a vehicle for social justice groups. They were all a bit wooly.
I think you're more likely to get agreement about reality using e-prime. It's primary purpose is to prevent arguments over what something 'is', and replace them with shared observations of what we perceive. Instead of saying the ball is blue, you say, the ball looks blue to me. Or instead of saying light is a wave, you say light behaves like a wave when sent through a double slit, etc.
If anything, it accentuates the subjective nature of our experience, and grants validity to people's sense of identity (because that's obviously their subjective experience).
My experience using e-prime with fellow non-experts suggests otherwise. The increased precision bifurcates perspectives, interpretations and nuances. Agreements take longer to reach, but everyone feels smarter during the process.
I think mastery takes ages. I also think all the “beginner” texts, the ones you can find online or in books quickly, overemphasise the precision and analytic benefits. I got much more from it once I started using it in a more poetic mode. It draws “scientific” communication out into myriad detail; it contracts poetry and prose with punch.
> Yes, and there is a very good reason English supports both types of claims, which mean substantially different things.
Right, and one of them isn't literally true, hence the point of all this. If the ball looks blue to you, it will look red to someone moving away from it rapidly, for example.
Any change in language could be a tool in constructing a group identity or brainwashing. Learning Spanish, avoiding swearing, using old-timey accents, etc. What on earth makes you think this particular one is?
It seemed to be an example of something like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_constructionism