While walking in the park I’ve been contemplating on importance of words in human life. There’s something magical about words. Their significance is not limited to mere communication media.
No wonder that iconic Bible verses about creation of the world in John 1 start with
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (KJV translation)
This passage describes word as World-Building tool which was a prerequisite to creation of the World. And that this prerequisite and the tool itself is God.
It all may sound a bit abstract and far from daily reality, after all not many of us have a universe-building experience.
But just try remembering the last time you couldn’t find a word to describe a situation/feeling/phenomenon. Frustrating sensation of having a limited toolbox to adequately describe the complex reality. Usually after a failed attempt to remember or find the exact word, we give up and look for a more general and accessible term. Thus the picture of the world in a conversation/text loses its tones and is simplified beyond measure. Probably this is what one Poet meant with:
“The spoken word is a lie”
To illustrate this process of oversimplification of the image of reality I prepared the picture of the cup below, split in 2 parts.
The left part of the picture illustrates the same cup as the right part, but limited just to 5 available colors. The idea of a cup is conveyed even with this limited “vocabulary” of colors on the left, but do we really know what cup it is? What depths of red and black hues this original contain? No!
It’s like trying to describe love with just 3 words. The general idea of love can be conveyed with simple, generic, imprecise “I love you”, but can it truthfully express the joy, the overwhelming whirlwind of emotions which love is?
Therefore the rich vocabulary is akin to a wide color palette. Since both allow for more precise, but alas never flawless, reflection of reality.
From even more abstract point of view right part of the picture could be seen as flawless depiction of reality, or reality itself. Is perfect depiction of reality and reality are the same? Question for another time!
Anyway, then the left part is the portrayal of the perfection, limited by the “palette” of human vocabulary. A sad attempt to achieve divine mastery in the creation of worlds by a being limited in time, space and understanding.
An impossible dream which we as humans still should strive to fulfill!
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