Our only apparently unique invention is written language, and there’s lots of evidence that it’s the least effective form of communication we have, and the form most prone to misunderstanding
writes Dave Pollard in his recent blog post Turning Together Without Words.
Or: The power of silence
i wish i knew or understood this, but i neither understand nor do i know how to deal with it. meaning can be poison, and meaning can kill. there may be power in words, but there is even higher power in what is not said if you allow it any meaning.
— one: the white flag
[X]
Words ought not to be trusted – you can never be sure if they mean what they say.
— Ashleigh Brilliant
Let’s assume that when people say something they generally mean something different. Then, the question “What do you mean?” generally makes no sense at all.
If you think that some people at least sometimes do say what they mean, well, I anyway do understand something different from what they say let alone what they mean.
So, what does it mean when someone says that she or he makes a lot of use of dictionaries and thesauruses searching for word origins? Like Dave Pollard just wrote? Or like half of my own blog?
What does it mean if someone is especially picky about words, if we try to be precise, if we try to avoid obfuscation and ambiguity, and if we moreover foster meaning with references?
Experts of wording driving away from their audience, burying augury of knowledge in wisdom, the paradox of communication, blatant honesty about lying.
Of course, this makes sense to us, anyway.
