Words

For those who live in the company of other living things, communication is very important. Even those who live in total isolation might wish to record their thoughts for future reference. Though it is possible to communicate and record thoughts with pictures, sounds, and other methods, this blog will rely mostly on written words.

Words are not clear. Every word has an infinite number of subtle variations in meaning, and some words have profound variations in meaning. When we string words together in phrases or sentences, this infinite number of variations gets multiplied exponentially. Since every person has their own continually-evolving internal definition of each word (dictionaries are great, but their definitions do not match each person's set of internal definitions), it is virtually impossible for any given sentence to mean precisely the same thing to two different people, since both would have to somehow pick precisely the same set of meanings from those infinite numbers of possible meanings. For that matter, it is probably impossible for even one person to pick precisely those same meanings two times in a row, so even when we read or hear what we ourselves have written or stated we cannot be sure precisely what we meant at that moment. Still, for now, words seem to be the best we can do -- our most precise means of communication (though many times a look or a gesture will suffice). Perhaps someday we will master more precise methods, such as direct transmission or recording of thoughts.

The real danger in the use of words is that because of our great familiarity with the process, and the lack of a better alternative, we tend to THINK of words as clear and precise. Indeed, they work well enough for most purposes most of the time, but we fail to remember that words are just approximations of thoughts. They can never be precise representations of thoughts.

Words work better under some circumstances. People who are familiar with each other, or share similar points of view, may have a greater tendency to use the same meanings of words than people who are strangers or have opposing points of view. (Oral communication, as opposed to written, allows the use of inflection and other means of communication, such as gestures, facial expression, and tone of voice, to increase the likelihood that words will clearly transmit the underlying thoughts.) Feedback between two people offers each a chance to clarify and ask for clarifications.

All of this assumes that people are using words in an attempt to clearly represent thoughts. If someone chooses to use words to deliberately mask or muddy their thoughts, or chooses to deliberately misinterpret someone else's words, then the process of communication quickly becomes hopeless. This often happens in politics and arguments -- one side blindly repeats and argues with the other side's WORDS without ever understanding or attempting to understand the underlying meaning, or perhaps deliberately misunderstanding, all the while insisting that they are correctly stating their opponent's beliefs.

When you agree or disagree with my words, what you are actually agreeing or disagreeing with is YOUR interpretation of my words, rather than my underlying thoughts. You can never know my actual thoughts, and I can never know your actual thoughts, no matter how hard we struggle to communicate. All we can do is give it our best effort, while remaining aware that we can never fully succeed.

This is not to say that words have no meaning, or that words are so vague that they can be construed to mean ANYTHING, or that it is impossible to tell a truth or a falsehood. A lie is still a lie -- though even the definition of a lie is subject to interpretation. (Just for the record, I consider a lie to be any DELIBERATE falsehood -- a person who makes an untrue statement is not telling a lie if they themselves believe it is true.) Words are probably the best we can do, and we can do a lot with words ... but they ARE subject to misinterpretation.

I am aware of the irony of using written words to discuss the insurmountable difficulties associated with the use of written words, and I am aware of the irony of having a written blog when I believe that words are not clear. Perhaps it is a mistake.