Where words End, True Meaning Begins
This week, or rather the past several months is something I feel as though I should be able to communicate, or write about, rather simply. Yet…the more drafts I make, the more convinced I am that what I am seeking to communicate, means so much to me, that I lack any meaningful words to really convey it.
So, the search for methods to communicate the incommunicable, brought me to some of the quotes I often cite, and think about:
“Consciousness is still, very much in an experimental state.”
– Carl Jung
“What cannot be spoken of clearly, must be passed over in silence.”
– Ludwig Wittgenstein
“In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.”
- Winston Churchill
“The truth of ALL cultures ‘Holy of Holies” (secret of secrets) is that…”
- Zohar, Volume III
“if you think too much about yourself, you will ruin what you are.”
- Conor Oberst, Bright Eyes (Musician)
These quotes at least “seem” or “feel” like they are pointing toward, what I wish I could express in this weeks article.
I was thinking of the Jung quote several weeks ago while I was listening to a podcast, titled “Stuff you should know.” The podcast hosts have a talent of making highly complex topics, easy to understand.
The episode I listened to on the topic of powerful concepts/images/ideas/experiences – meanings, that are hard to communicate is titled “Bicameral Mind Hypothesis.”[1] To summarize, their podcast: they review theories regarding when we humans likely gained the ability to meta-cognize, or “think about thinking,” (note, I do not intend to imply or assert, or even address the evolution vs creation debate – that is beyond the scope of this brief note).
I note this podcast episode, because it speculates about what it may have been like to be a human who cannot think about thinking, and who instead, simply has a thought – not articulated – so visualize something like a cave-man’s stomach FEELING hungry – not that he or his culture has the words to express it – and him FEELING “hunting,” as sort of a corresponding action that needs to happen, in response to his hunger. This is, of course – an imprecise metaphor, but it does point toward the central theme of what I would like to say, which is simply this: I concur with Wittgenstein.
In fact, I have found that whenever I have sought to communicate to others, the experiences/snapshots of my life that have meant and do mean the most to me, I feel as though I am doing some damage to the deeply personal meaning I hold so dear. There is simply something ephemeral and precious about our best moments in life.
This phenomena for lack of a better word, is something I would like to learn more about. Not from academic research, but from discussions with you.
I would love to hear from friends and colleagues on this subject: what is a memory, object, experience or quote that means so much to you, you have had a hard time communicating it, and feeling certain you were understood by others? Feel free to drop me a note, to [email protected].
As a bonus to this week’s article, I have included an image of the linguistic rabbit holes I wrote out today, in an effort to write about this mercurial topic. I realize, that when we doodle, there is something uniquely subjective about it. Meaning, they are best explained in person. The part of the drawing and words I would like to highlight, are the two empty squares – look for the light blue ink and note that serve as “place-holders” for the gaps and short-circuits in otherwise similar words. I looked at various words across German, Japanese and English, to see if there was any commonality between frequently used “agreement” words and phrases. To a surprising degree, the etymology of many of the words goes back to less precise words and phrases which mean something related to their modern version - but different. A Thai-English phrase was perhaps the best example I could find. The phrase is “same-same…” often followed by “but different…” - a phrase intended to convey “near perfect” communication between two people.
In other words, when we are having a conversation and say “Exactly!” to one another, or when Germans say “Genau,” – the sentiment behind it, is much the same, “yes, I understand.” But crucially, there is, in the selected words i researched, an express “gap” between what one word (almost always signaling assent), and our cultural tendency to concur, even when we do not fully understand.
In other words, historically, it seems we used to admit, even in our spoken and written languages that there was a “gap” between what we were seeking to communicate and what we “know” the other person “heard.”
This reminds me of my earlier article on “Why Truth is out of fashion.” It seems many of our cultures has to greater or lesser degrees, moved away from truly precise communication in favor of cultural phrases, which serve as a sort of “filler” to accommodate any potential social awkwardness that would come from an overly detailed description that may serve to highlight the meaning that fade and disperses as we seek to grab it and pass it along.
Here is to a great week ahead, and too a peaceful, refreshing Autumn season, wherever this article finds you.
All the Best and [ ],
Carson
[1] Available on YouTube, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKnyzJR5bjU