Language: The Power To Think
(The Communication Link To Awareness)
Language is the only tool Man has to understand himself, and the world around him. This concept is such a high truth that it bears repeating. In trying to understand the Universe around us, Man has only one tool--language. Only through the use of language can Man categorize, label, and finally understand himself and his surroundings.
If it were not for language, man would be the same as the beasts of the field. He would react to all conditions in an instinctual manner. He would never be able to manipulate his surrounding environment--to make tools, to build houses, to write books, to communicate with others.
What is it about language that enables us to do all this? The answer to this becomes evident when we understand just what language is. Language begins when a symbol (be that symbol an object, a gesture, or a concept see Fig. #1) is paired with a specific definition according to the following rules and limitations
All forms of communication begin with either a gesture or a sound that may or may not carry an implied inflection. This gesture or sound is called a symbol. For this symbol to become usable in someone's language, it must have attached to it a definition. Once the symbol and a definition are paired in a one-to-one ratio, such that each symbol has only one definition, a new creation comes into being--a word.
During the process of pairing a symbol with a definition, the symbol demands the answer to a number of implied questions. The definition that is paired with a symbol could possess the answer to more questions than are listed below, but never fewer than the ones listed below.
These questions must be answered satisfactorily or there is no communication. [As an aside, it is interesting to note that there is an implication contained in the above statement, which states that there is a difference between talking and communication.]
Again, during the process of pairing a symbol with its definition, the first law of interaction now governs. The first law of interaction states that the first and thereby the most important communication that is to be considered is the communication which the speaker(s) gives to themselves. The second most important communication is the communication that each [the speaker and/or the listener] gives to the needs of the situation within any given moment. And finally, the third most important communication states that if you want to talk where understanding does not matter, then the words that the speaker chooses also do not matter. [This process is called parallel babbling and can be found in any sandbox wherein two babies are playing] BUT, if there is to be communication, rather than just parallel babbling, then the following law applies:
The speaker(s) holds the responsibility for the communication because the speaker is doing the talking... because the speaker is choosing the words that are to be accepted and/or understood by the listener; as such, the illusion that is in the speaker's mind is of little importance beyond being the message that is being sent... If communication is to exist, care should be taken by the speaker to be certain that the message that is received by the listener is the same message that was sent by the speaker.
Within any communication attempt, it is the listener who holds the power because the listener chooses the understandability... the acceptability of the speaker's chosen words; as such, if communication is to take place, it is the listener's illusion... what is in the listener's mind that is important.
As said before, during the process of pairing a symbol with its definition, a number of questions are self implied:
Who is the speaker?
Who is the listener?
Is the speaker a different individual from the listener?
Is the speaker one's logical mind... or one's emotional mind?
Is the listener one's logical mind... or one's emotional mind?
Why... why is the communication taking place... what is hoped to be achieved?... whose needs are being served?... and why?
How... How are the needs of the moment to be served... how are the needs of the individual(s) being served?
When... when are these needs to be served... and at what cost to the logical mind... and at what cost to the emotional mind... and at what cost to the speaker... and at what cost to the listener?
Where... where is all this supposed to happen... does it happen within one's logical mind... does it happen within one's emotional mind... does it happen within the deeds of the reality that rule the moment?
Each of these questions must be satisfactorily answered, or there can be no successful pairing of a symbol to its definition... hence, there can be no communication.
If an individual wishes to understand any language, these are the laws that apply:
The Logical Mind uses words [a symbol that is paired with a definition].
It [the logical mind] does not possess the ability to recognize emotions beyond what is written within the word's definition.
The Logical Mind is governed by LinearTime; as such, the Logical Mind knows the past, the present, and the future. The Logical Mind can draw upon any event from the past, the present, and/or the future to do its work of understanding.
The Logical mind can infer what the Emotional Mind is trying to say by using the Rosetta stone of the process of creating the specific definition that is to be paired with its symbol... This Rosetta stone are the answers to the above nine questions.
The Logical Mind has spaces within the definitions for words that
contain the Emotional Mind's implied meaning:
Oh shit! Surprise
Oh Shit! Disgust
Oh Shit! Happiness
The Emotional Mind uses feelings.
The Emotional Mind does not know thoughts.
The events of the Emotional Mind are governed by FabricTime; as such, the Emotional Mind only has the now information. What was in the past does not matter because it does not exist.
The only thing that matters for the Emotional Mind is I want now.
The Emotional Mind is limited such that it can only communicate to a Logical Mind.
The symbols humans use are words or pictures. Thus, when we see a glass on a table, language brings either the word glass or a picture of a glass into our mind's eye, and we instantly recognize that what is on the table is the same thing that we have in our mind--The process of language required a very high degree of the ability called conceptualizing.
Once a sufficient number of concepts and objects have been labeled, these labels can be used to manipulate reality, as we know reality to be.
The process of manipulating reality begins with manipulating the symbols in our mind's eye. If a man had a symbol for the idea of drinking, and a symbol for the object coconut shell, it is possible that, in his mind he could visualize himself drinking from a coconut shell. This would lead to the creation of a new symbol to represent the idea of a drinking tool, a drinking glass. He would teach this concept to others, and soon everybody would be drinking from coconut shells and, one day, glasses.
The symbols are first manipulated in the mind, and then they are tested in the world around us. They are tested upon and within The Astral Plane Of Common Reality--just plain reality, for short. This is the way every new invention comes into being--be it a new machine, a new scientific theory, a new way of doing a task, a new way of understanding one's self, or anything else. Language makes it all possible... and, the process of Language is an interplay between some individual's Logical Mind and some individual's Emotional Mind. Within the process of communication, one can never be found without the presence of the other.
Without language, without some type of symbol, an object could not even be recognized as an object, much less be used for any purpose. This is what happens to a fly or a wasp which is trying to fly through a glass door. They hit the door again and again, never seeming to realize that there is something between them and the world. Truly, they don't realize something is there. They are completely unaware that anything is there at all. This is because the awareness of a fly is not developed enough to have language as we know it. There is no symbol for barrier, much less an unseen barrier, such as a glass door.
However, we need not have much pity for the fly, since without language there is no frustration, no puzzlement, no reasoning process. There is only the continued effort to fly through the door.
The fly is driven only by instinct. Everything it needs to know in order to survive has been pre-programmed into its instincts from birth. While many would agree that the fly does not have language, per say, this agreement is not valid. It is true that the fly's language would be very different from ours; but, it is language, nonetheless. Remember, language is the only tool which all life forms have to communicate to themselves--without the presence of language, regardless of the type of language, awareness, itself, would not be present. Since the fly is able to recognize a food source, it has awareness; therefore, it has language. Perhaps, some would argue that a fly has only Emotional Mind, while we have both Emotional Mind and Logical Mind to aid us.
Only when language exists is learning possible. A higher life form, such as a cat, might walk into the glass door. But you can bet that, unlike the fly, it would quickly learn that something is blocking its way. It is even possible that in time the cat would realize the function of the door. Most people have seen cats sit at a door and meow to get in, or even jump up and try to hit the doorknob.
Man takes language one step further. Man can manipulate abstract concepts to a much higher degree than any other life form on Earth. Thus, Man can think about things like what is life, what is death, what would happen if I did it this way, how did I get here, who made me and so on.
It is believed by many that other animals, while they may be able to learn and manipulate physical reality, just do not have the complicated brain structure needed to conceptualize the way Man does.
It is this conceptual ability that allows Man to understand himself, the Universe, and his place in it. It is this conceptual ability that allows Man the gift of love, wherein he comes to know his Creator, or the curse of evil, wherein he so despises his Creator that he should strive to destroy all which was created in his Creator's image--including himself.
However, because all things are continuums in themselves, by the nature of the Chi of Creation, (The creation of the one is, in itself, the implication of the creation of the other, and That which exists shall be Dual in its nature but Triune in its effects) where there is a seeming good side to a creation, there must also be a seeming bad side to that same creation--the same applies to the power of language.
Language does not get its power because it is a tool which Man uses to communicate to his God, to his environment, and to others of his kind--while it is true this communication is important, it is not the most important. Language gets its true power because it is the only tool which Man has to communicate to himself.
The power of Language, of course, comes from what the species Man does with the collection of symbols which he calls labels, the definitions of which he arbitrarily assigns. With the assignment of a specific definition to each symbol, Man--the individual--builds his value systems, his personality, his dreams, his illusions, and finally, his reality.
When this raw power, the power of language, is used properly, the individual can do wonders to truly aid his species. Equally, when this raw power is misused, that same individual can create an unbelievable nightmare for his species.
It is not an accident that individuals who are hell-bent upon serving themselves often claim that they are acting for the good of the whole. It is also no accident that these self-serving individuals usually turn to their religion's dogma for justification.
Let he who does not believe that the misuse of the power of language will create a nightmare go back in time to the murder of Akhenaten: Pharaoh of Egypt (thousands of people were hunted down in the streets and killed because they believed in a different God--they were Arkashean), to ancient Rome (thousands of people were hunted down, thrown to the lions to be killed because they believed in a different God--they were Christian), or, if the reader wishes a more modern picture of madness, let him go to Nazi Germany (millions of people were hunted down, placed in concentration camps where they were tortured, killed, then burned in ovens because they believed in a different God--they were Jews).
To talk of the misuse of language requires us to show that misuse, if for no other purpose than to serve Justice--a concept the world of today knows little of. Justice in today's world is most likely to be legal expedience.
In the days of old, while the species Man was building his set of symbols, while the species Man was still in the process of acquiring his wisdom via the willingness to learn the difference between punishment and bestiality, the difference between serving the species as a whole and serving himself at the cost of serving his species, and the difference between serving his God by being with Honor, and being for himself by serving the needs of his corrupt religion, there were a few who served as true spiritual leaders--they were called Magi.
The Magi of the time recognized the value of building with honor. So, too, they recognized the value of symbols which signified this building of honor.
What was once used to signify the Master Builder, a collection of laws which was the seed for creation--Chi of Creation--what was once loved above all symbols, became perverted to such a degree that it is now the most hated of all the symbols. It is now known as the Nazi's symbol, the Swastika.
With all the harm that has been done to Man by Man, it is difficult to determine if the study of Evil is the study of Man, or if the study of Man is the study of the face of Evil. If it can be said that Evil has given a gift to this world, a gift which was designed to destroy it, then, Religion, itself, must be that gift. Man, the TwinSpecies, indeed, needs to learn how to understand, forgive, and love.
In most cases, it is difficult, indeed, to discern the boundaries between communication and parallel babbling. Since language is, itself, the process of communicating to one's self--how else is one to assign a specific definition to a label--and communication is the process of communicating to others of our kind, communicating to our environment via our deeds, and communicating to ourselves, can it be said that there is a clear difference?
For the sake of our understanding, let's place the difference between the two processes--communication is the process of giving and taking new ideas/messages, while language is the collection of the symbols that communication uses in its process.