From Peterson's Lobsters to Trump's Fine People: Matt Teichman on Conversational Implicature

In this episode, philosopher and host of the Elucidations podcast, Matt Teichman, joins us to explore conversational implicature & the hidden rules that help us understand what people mean beyond their literal words. We dive into Paul Grice's cooperative principle and discuss a few real-world examples where communication famously broken down, like the infamous Kathy Newman/Jordan Peterson interview and Trump's "very fine people" comment. We also discuss implicatures in the corporate world and dating etiquette. Matt helps us unpack why some conversations go catastrophically wrong, how different communities develop their own communication norms, and why sometimes saying things indirectly is both more efficient and more fun.