The Latin-based languages comprise 26 symbols that, arranged in a mind-boggling array of variation, somehow connect us with one another. It’s pretty awesome, when you think about it. Yet it has limitations.
Not only do most words have multiple meanings (like ‘conflict’ and ‘story’), but we tend to forget that words are only symbols. Words can’t capture the essence of anything; they are, at best, pointers. More often, they’re representations of thought patterns, and who needs more thoughts dancing around their mind? When you combine these factors, the potential for misinterpretation is substantial. So…why bother writing at all? Why aren’t we all constantly in silence? Maybe we should just communicate in koans? Well, at this point in our evolution, language is the best vehicle most of us have for communication.
The upside is that language, when used well, can create powerful experiences for the reader.
Storytelling and Mirror Neurons
If I tell you that I went walking in a forest, that gives you information, but it doesn’t create an experience for you. The word “forest” doesn’t capture the fragrance of baked pine, or the feel of old leaves crunching underneath my feet, or the curious stare of a raccoon as it scampers up a tree. Yet as you read those sensory phrases (‘baked pine’), your brain pulls up your own experience of the sweet fragrance of pine under the summer sun. Maybe you remember…
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