People get fired, bombs get dropped on the wrong people, (assuming there are good people to drop them on), Sunday morning church people miss the point completely, and mapquest makes you turn right instead of left. One generation looks in confusion at another generation, high school girls across the country are crying in bathroom stalls at this very moment, and people trying to figure out spirituality see it about as clear as the colored air hovering over Vancouver. Why? Simply, we have killed language to the appeasement of the gods of poor communication. This is a problem of blockbuster proportions.
True enough, the hollow shell of it does still exist; we have great pieces of literature, a million emails a day, libraries of unread doctorate papers, text messaging, and, if you like scarves art shows and finger gloves – there’s emo music. But, what has become of the depth, the width, the height, and weight of the meaning of words?
Who is it who is issuing the license to drag the meaning of words up to le guillotine and steal the life and meaning from them? I would submit that the hooded executioner is anyone who uses language and attaches new ideas and definitions to words. The collapse of definition leaves room for the building of a gloriously sexy but severely contradictive and handicapped mosaic of conclusions.
If we are not working from the same definitions, then we will come to very different conclusions.
1 comment:
"If we are not working with the same definitions, then we will come to very different conclusions."
i've talked with suzanne on numerous occasions about our different filters. because we are so different we have to work harder at our friendship. we have to step back and realize how the other person may be interpreting what is coming out of our mouth. it's true that our language and the sanctity of certain words have been butchered, but i think that just means we need to work harder to get across the things we really mean. and in this fast-paced, fast food socity we often view things that take time as impossible. but it's not. it just takes a little more time.
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