Observing entropy - #18 Waking Life "Language"
Source An example of Entropy: (Light Waves through a Prism)
Creation comes out of imperfection.
It seems to come out of a striving
and a frustration. (of a need)
language came from.
I mean, it came from our desire
to transcend our isolation...
...and have some connection
with one another.
It had to be easy when
it was just simple survival.
"Water." We came up
with a sound for that.
"Tiger behind you!"
We made a sound for that.
But when it gets really
interesting, I think...
...is when we use
that same system of symbols...
...to communicate all the abstract and
intangible things we're experiencing.
What is "frustration"?
Or what is "anger" or "love"?
When I say "love"...
...the sound comes out of my mouth
and hits the other person's ear...
...travels through this byzantine
conduit in their brain...
...through their memories of love
or lack of love.
They say they understand, but how
do I know? Because words are inert.
They're just symbols. They're dead.
You know?
And so much of our experience
is intangible.
So much of what we perceive cannot
be expressed. It's unspeakable.
And yet, you know, when we
communicate with one another...
...and we feel we have connected
and think we're understood...
...I think we have a feeling
of almost spiritual communion.
That feeling may be transient,
but it's what we live for.