What Are Words? A Simple Explanation…

What Are Words? A Simple Explanation…

 

Imagine there’s a professional racecar driver who has no clue how the inside of their car works.

Can they still be a sufficient driver?

 

Sure.

They don’t need to know how the car works to use it.

 

Similar to a content creator.

The creator doesn’t need to know the inner workings of their phone to post a tweet.

 

But knowing the tool in-depth is what separates a hobbyist from a pro.

A pro aims to know everything about their field.

 

If this racecar driver was well versed in driving and the inner workings of their tool, then they will have a perception the other drivers couldn’t even fathom.

 

For storytellers, our tools are words.

We use words to paint images in someone’s mind.

The question is:

  • What exactly are words?

 

Objective Reality vs Subjective Reality

 

The objective reality is the world around us.

This is the world where math reigns supreme.

We use math in order to make sense of ambiguity.

 

The more we use math (aka: the language of science) the more we understand the world.

The world is not a chaotic mess.

Rather, there are laws that govern the universe.

 

The subjective reality is the world within.

Our feelings, thoughts, desires, etc.

 

For the subjective reality, words reign supreme.

Words allow us to get random blobs of experiences and turn them into insights.

 

What Are Words?

 

 

Words are symbols with a shared understanding.

 

With words, we create the primal internet.

Humans are computers.

And language allows computers to interact with one another.

 

Words are symbols from our internal world.

Here’s a paradox:

  • Each human being has different experiences.
  • But a lot of times, we have similar takeaways from our different experiences.

 

For example, Person A fell and broke his leg to understand pain.

While Person B burned his finger on the stove to understand pain.

Although Person A and Person B had different experiences, they have the same shared meaning of:

  • Ouch!!!!

 

Humans codify shared understandings into words.

So, words freeze the internal subjective state for further usage.

The adoption of how much the word is used by ourselves + others will determine if the word is accepted or dies off.

 

With a shared understanding of words, we form a culture, influence perepctions, and have tools to think things through.

 

Are Words Needed for Communication?

 

Do you know what I hate?

Traffic.

 

Do you know what I hate just as much?

No traffic….But I’m still waiting at a stop light.

 

what are words

 

No joke.

A few nights ago, I was driving and was the only one on the street.

But I was met with a red light.

 

1 minute goes by, it’s red.

2 minutes go by, it’s still red.

5 minutes go by, it’s still red.

No one is on the road at all!!!

 

That’s when I realized…

This light and I were technically having a communication.

There was a shared meaning that was being accepted by the 2 parties (me and the light).

  • The red meant don’t go.

 

This symbol was not in the format of scribbles.

It was in the format of lights.

 

Therefore, you don’t NEED words to communicate.

But here’s why we use words anyways…

 

Why Words Are Crucial to Communication

 

The reason we use words is because it’s efficient.

If I was trying to express a complicated message with my body alone:

  • Grunts, smiles, hand motions.

Could I do it?

 

Yes, I could do it.

But is that efficient?

Nah, not really.

 

Words are easier to articulate and pack a lot of information in.

 

Not only that, we can use words to pass down content across generations with a high likelihood of being understood.

It’s hard to pass down body language even if it’s in video format.

 

So, words are not mandatory for communication.

However, with scribbles, we can relay messages efficiently while simultaneously being understood across generations.

 

We are going from dial-up internet to HIGH SPEED.

 

Free illustrations of Background

 

How to Better Use Words

 

Back to the racecar example at the beginning of the article.

Imagine the racecar driver just understood the theory of how a car worked but never drove one.

Would the driver know the car on an in-depth level?

 

No, it would be surface-level at best.

 

Most people think they are using words on an in-depth level, but they aren’t.

They are just getting the talking points of others and running scripts from that.

 

If you really want to know words on an intimate level, then I recommend some form of content creation.

 

One idea I posted to my Twitter audience was to start a private YouTube channel.

  • Assign yourself a topic and speak without preparation.

A few people took up that idea.

 

I got a DM from one fellow who was like:

‘I never knew how hard it was to create content after assigning myself the topic!!’

 

Conversations mask a lot of poor concentration skills.

Because when you are predominantly bouncing ideas off someone, it’s hard to assess how much you can stand on your own 2 legs.

 

I’m not saying conversations are bad by any means.

But when you are by yourself and are forced to talk about something that you assigned yourself a topic on:

That’s when you’ll see how great your concentration is.

And that’s when you’ll see how much of a savant you are with linguistics.

 

The Nuanced Storyteller

 

The nuanced storyteller understands the macro parts of a story.

They understand a story is an interconnection of ideas.

The interconnections of ideas often form a character, conflict, and resolution.

The storyteller introduces the conflict and delays the resolution.

 

But the nuanced storyteller also understands the micro parts of a story.

Aka: words.

The building blocks!

 

What are words to you?

How do you define them?

How would life be different without them?

 

These scribbles seem so tiny.

But in communication, tiny often holds the most meaning.

 

For more insights into linguistics, be sure to sign up for the ArmaniTalks free daily newsletter!

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