WHY THE EMPHASIS ON OPERATIONAL PROSE – AND WHAT IS IT?
Operational prose, within the context of Doolittle’s Natural Law, P-Law, or Propertarianism, represents a method of expressing ideas, concepts, and statements in a manner that is precise, verifiable, and grounded in observable and testable actions. This approach is designed to eliminate ambiguity, reduce misunderstandings, and facilitate clear communication, and improve truth or falsehood detection, especially in complex fields like law, economics, and social sciences.
Here’s a breakdown of its key aspects and implications:
1. Definition and Purpose
Operational prose requires defining concepts and statements in terms of specific, observable actions or processes. This method aims to ensure that every term and sentence can be empirically tested or logically verified, mirroring the precision found in programming languages or mathematical formulations.
2. Techniques and Elements
Elimination of Ambiguous Language: Operational prose avoids vague terms and generalizations by specifying the exact actions or phenomena being discussed.
Use of Complete Sentences: Each statement is structured to convey a complete thought, including the subject, action, and object, ensuring clarity and coherence.
Operational Vocabulary: The vocabulary consists of terms defined through their operational (action-based) meanings, which relate directly to observable and testable phenomena.
E-Prime Language: Operational prose often employs E-Prime, a version of the English language that excludes all forms of the verb “to be” (is, are, was, were, etc.). This exclusion aims to reduce the assertion of absolute or objective states, focusing instead on perceptions and experiences.
Promissory Form: Statements in operational prose may include a form of promise or warranty, indicating the speaker’s commitment to the truthfulness and reliability of their assertions.
3. Applications and Benefits
Clarity and Precision: By requiring descriptions to be grounded in observable actions, operational prose minimizes the risk of misinterpretation and enhances the clarity of communication.
Empirical Testability: This approach ensures that statements can be empirically tested or logically verified, aligning with the scientific method’s emphasis on falsifiability and verification.
Reduction of Deceit and Ambiguity: Operational prose is designed to make deceit more difficult and to clarify intentions, making it a powerful tool in legal and ethical reasoning.
4. Challenges in Adoption
Operational prose is, like grammatical analysis, a methodology, and tool, where repeated use develops an intuition in the person using it. So, while operational prose offers significant benefits for clarity and precision, it can be challenging to adopt widely due to its departure from conventional language use. It requires a rigorous rethinking of how we express ideas and a commitment to specificity that may not always be intuitive or straightforward.
5. Impact on Disciplines
In disciplines like law, economics, and the social sciences, operational prose could revolutionize the way concepts are discussed and arguments are made. By demanding that statements be operationalizable, it ensures that theoretical discussions have practical, testable implications, bridging the gap between abstract theory and empirical reality.
Conclusion
Operational prose, as advocated in Doolittle’s Natural Law, P-Law, and Propertarianism, is more than just a stylistic choice; it’s a methodological tool designed to enhance the precision, reliability, and verifiability of communication across various fields. Its emphasis on observable actions and testable statements aligns closely with the scientific method, promising to refine and improve discourse in both the hard and soft sciences.
