Unsplash<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/head>Wouldn\u2019t it be great if someone invented a kind of technology that would facilitate the sharing of consciousness?\u00a0 It would have to be something elegant enough to facilitate the transfer of a person\u2019s innermost thoughts and feelings to another but simple enough for everyone to use.\u00a0 It would need to be a reciprocal tool that would allow a two-way sharing of meaning, and it would need to be flexible enough to adapt to any number of different circumstances.\u00a0 It would have to require zero maintenance and instead update its operating system organically over time offline.\u00a0 It would also need to be affordable and easy to access.\u00a0 I wonder how much of an R&D investment it would take to come up with such a technological marvel.
\u00a0
Of course, we already have this very tool and it\u2019s free \u2013 language.\u00a0 By simply labeling what I think and feel using a set of agree-upon symbols and sounds, I can deliver to you a word-based replica of all that is in my mind and heart, and it doesn\u2019t cost a dime.\u00a0 And not only that, I can actually receive my very own replica of your unique, individual conscious experience as well. \u00a0No membership necessary, no delivery fees or taxes.\u00a0 In my opinion, language is a miracle.\u00a0
\u00a0
And it\u2019s also a mess.\u00a0 Words are concrete symbols used to convey abstract thoughts and feelings, and like all symbols, despite their genius, they are incomplete.\u00a0 Such labels are necessary but limited.\u00a0 As the saying goes, the finger pointing at the moon is not the moon.\u00a0 Perhaps this gap between finger and moon \u2013 between label and essence \u2013 is at the very heart of our polarized national discourse today.
\u00a0
If I say that \u201cblack lives matter,\u201d does that have to mean that I am a radical Marxist ready to use violence to promote racial justice?\u00a0 I sure hope not.\u00a0 I am not Marxist, and I hate violence.\u00a0 I do not align with any political \u201corganization\u201d connected to any BLM movement.\u00a0 But my language is limited.\u00a0 I say that black lives matter because I believe they do.\u00a0 Racism is real and needs to be addressed.\u00a0 But my use of this language seems to suggest that I must be part of some wacked-out antifa organization bent on anarchy, which is not true.
\u00a0
If I say that that \u201cdefunding the police\u201d sounds like a terrible idea, does that have to mean I am part of some fascist movement intent on institutionalizing discrimination against black people?\u00a0 I sure hope not.\u00a0 I do not think that the sins of some are the sins of all.\u00a0 Individual police have committed horrific crimes, but so have nurses and accountants and welders and teachers like me.\u00a0 Why can\u2019t I be supportive of good policing and still be in favor of needed reforms?\u00a0 But my use of this language seems to suggest that supporting anti-racism efforts means I necessarily want to abolish the police, which is not true.
\u00a0
I could go on and on.\u00a0 In short, language is limited.\u00a0 And we weaponize this gap between the terms themselves and the reality they are designed to convey.\u00a0 We turn difficult issues into all or nothing propositions.\u00a0 We assume that any reasonable person who believes X is the same as the fanatical nut job who takes X to its outrageous extreme and seeks to advance its interests through violent means.\u00a0 We then characterize these nut jobs \u2013 on both the left and the right \u2013 as part of a calculated, sinister, well-financed organization designed to destroy all that is good decent.\u00a0 And we become more and more angry, polarized, and isolated every day.
\u00a0
Perhaps the best use of R&D funds might be in studying a new kind of technology, one that not only identifies but actually grapples with life\u2019s \u201cgrey areas.\u201d \u00a0One that prevents us from automatically demonizing what is different.\u00a0 Maybe if we had some clever tool that allowed us to identify nuance and subtlety and ever-so-slightly different shades of meaning, we might not have these problems.\u00a0 Oh, but wait . . . we already do.\u00a0 That same grey matter that\u2019s responsible for the miraculous development of language is also capable of using it differently.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wouldn\u2019t it be great if someone invented a kind of technology that would facilitate the sharing of consciousness?\u00a0 It would have to be something elegant enough to facilitate the transfer of a person\u2019s innermost thoughts and feelings to another but simple enough for everyone to use.\u00a0 It would need to be a reciprocal tool that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4926,"featured_media":363,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[45,48,51,57],"class_list":["post-362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society","tag-communication","tag-conflict","tag-politics","tag-society"],"yoast_head":"\n
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