Welcome to the community!
I love your take on language. It prompted a quote from one of my favourite films called "Waking Life".
"Creation seems to come out of imperfection. It seems to come out of a striving and a frustration and this is where I think language came from. I mean, it came from our desire to transcend our isolation and have some sort of connection with one another. And it had to be easy when it was just simple survival. Like you know, "water." We came up with a sound for that. Or saber tooth tiger right behind you. We came up with a sound for that. But when it gets really interesting I think is when we use that same system of symbols to communicate all the abstract and intangible things that we're experiencing. What is like... frustration? Or what is anger or love? When I say love, the sound comes out of my mouth and it hits the other person's ear, travels through this byzantine conduit in their brain through their memories of love or lack of love, and they register what I'm saying and they say yes, they understand. But how do I know they understand? Because words are inert. They're just symbols. They're dead, you know? And so much of our experience is intangible. So much of what we perceive cannot be expressed. It's unspeakable. And yet you know, when we communicate with one another and we feel that we have connected and we think that we're understood I think we have a feeling of almost spiritual communion. And that feeling might be transient, but I think it's what we live for."
I actually think you'd love the film so if you have chance definitely check it out.
Big love to you. 💛
Hi!
Thanks a lot for the film recommendation! :)
I am, too, amazed with how language works as a system for understanding each other. However, I don't completely agree with the quote, as I feel that words are not inert, I think they are powerful. Sometimes, yes, we lack words to express a feeling or to describe something, but words itself - they hold amazing power. I have a post in mind about that.
Wishing the best to you! :)
I would absolutely love to read your post regarding language! I think words hold power based on the relationship the individual associates with the sound, however a lot can still be misinterpreted or misunderstood because not everyone has the same degree of understanding. But at the root I do agree that at the end of the day we have come up with a system that works as well as it can to translate emotions and feelings so we can all connect. 😊
Hey, I managed to write up the post just yesterday, you can check it out here! It's less about language as a system of understanding, but more about how that understanding influences our look on life, and life itself. 😊