Fallacy of Words, Tragedy of Mankind

The words are deceptive. They are deceptive because they are interpreted. They are interpreted because they need to be understood. They needs to be understood because Man has a desire to grasp their meaning and therefore man try to interpret them and as a result make fool of himself because the meaning of the word man derive does not depend on the word but entirely depend on the man who try to demystify their meaning.  

Who is a Man? Has Man ever been defined beyond his biological character? When and how did man surpassed his animal character and reached to the present state of evolution. The questions are endless, answers are fathomless however, a fact remains that Man of present is a result of continuous process of evolution that started billions of years ago. Man; who is in a continuous process of evolution brought many changes in the world in which he was sent.  

Language is one of the by-products of the evolution of human being. As intellect of man evolved, the words which gradually evolved into full-fledged language that he invented also diagonally evolved, however, the cardinal problem that humanity came across was its failure to reach to the intersection point where the ‘understanding’ of ‘words’ meets. Language is basically a dark-humour as its outcome entirely depends on the understanding and consequent reaction of the one who is at the receiving end- which further depends on some preconceived notions, ideas, knowledge and ‘planted’ wisdom.When language is studied independently from purely linguistic perspectives its fallacy becomes stark visible and soon the realization occurs to us that the language is really not what we often habitually perceive. It is basically a mind-game that humanity has invented during the process of evolution. Language has no independent existence in the life of Man. In fact, inability to arrive on the desired meaning of the words becomes a challenging affair in the context of multiple reference points of understanding. This is the reality of human communication.  

Meaning, interpretation, understanding of words differs from person to person. Everything that is spoken has invisible undercurrents of n’ of contexts. Language is a manmade tool with obvious flaws and structural problems. For e.g. Apple is an Apple for us because we were taught to call an Apple as an Apple, but in reality Apple could be anything which may or not be possible to comprehend. The logic of it is complex to grasp; however, it may help to simplify the reality that the communication of people is never what they really meant to be. It always does have individual angles and sole perspectives and therefore, understanding in reality is a state of ‘compromise’. To have cordial relations among people it is necessary to arrive at the state of compromise where individual understanding, perspective, knowledge, experiences will be respected, accepted and the fallacy of human understanding will be appreciated.   Since time immemorial; men and women of curiosity and questions set on a journey to explore the reality of their earthly and heavenly experiences. Their journey was an intellectual journey. Throughout the road whatever experiences they came across were understood by them by the application of their limited mental faculties which weresubsequently passed on to their disciples who further in an attempt to demystify them viewed them with their eyes and passed on to the next generation of ‘seekers’. This is how religion too was born. Something that we call ‘KNOWLEDGE’ is nothing but a bunch of dynamic perspectives.  

Therefore, fact shall remain, that language has structural defects. Language cannot convey human emotions. Language evolves with the evolution of man. Communication of words cannot guarantee the communication of knowledge. Communication of knowledge does not guarantee the understanding of knowledge but guarantees the transmission of ‘perspectives’ and ‘positions’ which we must recognize as ‘knowledge-in-motion’.  

There should not be any scope for convictions in the field knowledge because that what has been communicated to us has come through a very delicate, hostile, weak and incomplete vehicle called ‘language’. Stubborn conviction of the interpretation of merely one word can turn life into death. The bloodbath that the history of humanity has seen in thousands of years has also been a result of ‘intellectual stubbornness’ and ‘convictions’. If people could somehow grasp the fact that the reality that they are experiencing is basically beyond their comprehension then there is scope to believe that the world would be far better and peaceful place to live.  

In present discourse, it is pertinent to quote the reflections of Austrian Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. Wittgenstein’s view of language is also important for anyone engaging in philosophy. The dictum: ‘In most cases, meaning is use’ serves as a vital corrective for the impulse to launch into vague metaphysical speculations premised on the misuse of words. Take the word ‘God’, for example. The contemporary debate between atheists and believers is premised on the idea that the word ‘God’ either represents something in the real world, or it does not. Believers argue that it does (and tie themselves in knots trying to verify this claim), while atheists argue that it doesn’t. However, both parties to this debate unwittingly rely on a picture theory of language. In this theory of Ludwig Wittgenstein, language represents facts about the world. What it says is either true or false. Never the twain shall meet.However, there is still confusion as to how do we know and identify the ‘facts’ as this understanding too directly depends on the perception of an individual.  

Philosopher and Poet ‘RUMI’ said, “Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words”. The words of Rumi are very soothing.  However reality of this world speaks something else. The solution lies in understanding the fact that something that cannot be told, must be passed in silence. Words are weak. Human existence is far greater than the words invented by humanity. There is no point in fighting for something which can be perceived individually but not imagined collectively by quarrelling parties. Human being is a victim of his own existence. Basically; it may be easier to be born as a human, but not to live like one for there are layers of influences of ignorancethat cast shadow over the man in every stride he takes in this world which he could never understand. Words are deceptive. Learn to go beyond them. There is a space. There is a peace. There is tranquillity. Do not run behind certainty for it does not exist. Answer is a lie, question is the eternal truth! Be seeker, forever!  

NOTE: This Article is a result of momentary morning WhatsApp conversation with Miss Diana; therefore this humble piece of work is dedicated to her …whom I lost in ‘translation’.