Creation seems to come out of imperfection. It seems to come out of a striving and a frustration. This is where, I think, language came from. It came from our desire to transcend our isolation and have some sort of connection with one another. It had to be easy when it was just simple survival. “Water.” We came up with a sound for that. “Sabretooth tiger right behind you!” We came up with a sound for that. But when it gets really interesting is when we use that same system of symbols to communicate all the abstract and intangible things that we’re experiencing. What is “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 Im saying. And they say they understand, but how do I know? Because words are inert. They’re just symbols. They’re dead. And so much of our experience is intangible. So much of what we perceive cannot be expressed. It’s unspeakable. And yet, when we communicate with one another and we feel that we have connected and we think we’re understood, I think we have a feeling of almost spiritual communion. And that feeling may be transient, but I think it’s what we live for.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 13:05:42 +0000
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