Statement Analysis Lesson: "Extra" Words

Statement Analysis Principle:  Extra words yield additional information.

Earvin "Magic" Johnson, former NBA star contracted HIV years ago and rumors of homosexuality swirled about him, which upset him enough to hit the talk show circuit and issue denials.



"I am certain I was infected by having unprotected sex with a woman who has the virus." Magic Johnson

When this first arose, Magic Johnson denied that he was a homosexual but was careful not to
deny that he was a bi-sexual in his interviews.  He chose his words carefully, and like most who issue weak denials, he was then forced to issue another and yet another denial.

His denial showed deception within his statement.

This statement is one which highlights our principle that "extra words give us additional information" defining an extra word as one in which the sentence works without.

Recall:

"I locked my keys in the car" is straight forward while the qualifying:
"I think I locked my keys in the car" shows weakness, in that the subject is aware that others (including himself) may think the keys are elsewhere.  The addition of the word "think" changes the statement's scope.

"I didn't steal anything" is straight forward and a strong denial.
"I didn't steal anything now" has just one simple word, "now", added to it, and changes the reality of the statement, leaving the listener to ask, "did he steal something previously?"


Back to Magic Johnson's statement:

I am certain I was infected by having unprotected sex with a woman who has the virus.

If were were to re-write this sentence using the shortest possible way we could write:

"I was infected by having unprotected sex" and not lose the meaning.  We have the subject "I" who is "infected" and the cause of the infection, "unprotected sex."

However, we look at the original statement and apply our analysis:

"I am certain I was infected by having unprotected sex with a woman who has the virus."

"I am certain" actually makes the subject's assertion weaker by introducing the element of doubt.  Since
"I am certain" is unnecessary, it is additional information and allows that someone else may be less certain, or even disagree with him.  It could be that he, himself, lacks certainty.  "I am certain" is the first sensitivity indicator in the sentence.

"with a woman" is also unnecessary and gives us an indication that the subject has had unprotected sex with a man, as well.  This is also a sensitivity indicator, but here, we find the third sensitivity indicator, which is compounded:

"who has the virus" is unnecessary for someone to be infected, it would have to come from another person who is infected, making "with a woman" now an indication of sensitivity to the topic of "woman."

The subject did not want the audience to think that he was gay when he made this denial. The extra words show a sensitivity to the topic of "woman" (compounded) and this shows us how the additional information has become sensitive to the subject.