A Language of Metaphors: Chapter 6

A Leap to the Left

We've looked a bit at such factors as importance, categories, dimensionality, encapsulations, chains of command and such, but have yet to describe how these things apply to the language. Now we will...

First, let's look at the universe as having begun with the Big Bang. Boom.

Particles sprayed about the universe, doing what comes natural to particles: obeying the laws of physics; one of which says that matter cannot be created nor destroyed, but can only change form; another law says that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Therefore, if the Big Bang was the first action of the universe, then all things since are simply strings of reactions (although this suggests that creation was a reaction, all things being equal !!).

Since each of these tiny reactions are entirely bound by laws themselves; and the interaction of forces a simple and exact mathematical event: One with the power to know that first moment, and calculate any that may follow, could conceivably predict the entire past, present or future of the entire universe. If one were a scientist, knowledge of this would presumably end their truth-seeking career abruptly. Ouch !!

The universe, then, is a perfect record of itself, written in every last iota of all things. Language is used, in part, to represent these things, but their existence contains a perfect, multidimensional representation of themselves. Essentially, the "perfect word" for something, would no longer be a linguistic representation, but the actual entity. This perspective gives rise to the concept of the universe as "Gods' handwriting".

But not ours.

Go get your birth certificate. I'll wait...

Location of birth:

Date of birth:

Birth weight, length, eye-colour:          (found on the original only)

Sex:                                                            (Tee-hee-hee!!)

Registration number:

Name:

Signature of Registrar:

That common piece of I.D. actually reflects the "perfect word" thing quite well. It gives a specific location on this Earth (and therefore in the universe), where the atoms and molecules of "you" were a single, new encapsulation entering the "universe" of society. It marks the time that this "Baby Bang" occurred. It gives both a quantitative and qualitative assay that is actually only fully relevant at that "moment of creation" before any expansion or decay occurs. Add a registration number to give the child a point of reference within the "societal universe" and a name - a "word" for the child: in my case, a "John David", of the category "Casnig". Finally, the seal of approval that these facts are true: a signature from some faceless, official "god" in charge of the social universes' order: An endorsement of the reality of your existence.

The number given to the child is unique. It may, like the Social Insurance Number that qualifies me as a taxpayer, be broken down to provide greater detail. Because I'm from Ontario, my S.I.N. begins with the number 4. My cars' long Vehicle Identification Number, details the make, model and even engine type (if I'm not mistaken). These numbers are like long, compound words: a string of characters that based on type and location within the word, define the object in question. That number 4 in my S.I.N., would have a completely different meaning than another 4 would have, if found in another location within the S.I.N. : A language system in which context determines the entirety of definition.

Three people are each staring at a TV. Without context, we would not realize that these are not members of the local Couch-Potato Club, but are a repair technician (assessing it for repair), a security guard (protecting it from theft), and one who has never seen a television (unaware that the power is off). A TV is a TV, but without context, the interaction between it and a person can reduce the TV as a communication tool to a confusing hunk of matter. (I find that even when the TV is communicating, it is still a confusing hunk of matter!). Context has defined this specific TV as a malfunctioning electromagnetic device, a valued asset or a curious "thing". Like placing that number 4 to another spot in my S.I.N., this TV now has many distinct definitions.

Our basic number system has context written all over it. Take the number 123. The 1, if taken out of context, is lower in value than the 2 or 3. Join them together in the order 123 and the 1 becomes greater, or more "important"; being worth 100, versus the 20, or the 3. [Of course, it's not really true that the "Least Significant Digit" is expendable in the real universe, since the apparent law "matter cannot be created nor destroyed" would disallow this, meaning the elimination of even a single particle would presumably be as cataclysmic to the order of things as the removal of an entire galaxy.]

How do we create words for the TV or the number 4 that can both directly define them and define them in context or importance from a given perspective? In other words: How do we arrive at a format that allows context to influence definition while maintaining the pure meaning of the word? For this we will need a prime example of what a word should be.

Prime-Time...

Copyright: John D. Casnig 2000 - Use with permission only.