Steve Andreas > Articles > Verbal Implication

Introduction

Implication is one of the most common ways that we unconsciously make meaning out of events in everyday life. A speaker's statement implies something that the listener infers. Implication was used extensively and deliberately by Erickson, as shown in the following examples (some paraphrased) with the implication in parentheses:

“You don't want to discuss your problems in that chair. You certainly don't want to discuss them standing up. But if you move your chair to the other side of the room, that would give you a different view of the situation, wouldn't it?” (From this different position you will want to discuss your problems.)

“I certainly don't expect that you'll stop wetting the bed this week, or next week, or this month.” (I certainly expect that you will stop sometime.)

“Your conscious mind will probably be very confused about what I'm saying.” (Your unconscious mind will understand completely.)

Examining these examples, we can begin to generalize about the structure of implication.

1. There is a presumption of a categorical mental division that is usually an “either/or”—here/there, now/later, conscious/unconscious, etc.
2. This categorical division can exist in either space, time, or events (matter and/or process).
3. A statement that is made about one half of the either/or division (often using negation) implies that the opposite will be true of the other half.

(Look back to verify that these three elements exist in each example above.)

Since implication is often confused with presupposition (which  Erickson also used extensively)  it is useful to contrast the two. Presuppositions have been well studied by linguists, and 29 different “syntactic environments” for presuppositions in English have been identified. (See the Appendix to [1]). However, implications have not been studied, even though Erickson made very extensive use of them, so this is a very useful area to examine in much more detail.