The Map is not the territory
 

I have several issues with language.
In esence, it is a poor representation of "reality."
It seems to me that the overwhelming majority of our thoughts and the confusion and errors of same are due to the assumption that language adequately represents the world.

In my opinion, it does no such thing.

I'll enumerate some of the reasons I see this occurring. But for the time being, there's an article reprinted in
my journal, entry number 077 The Map Is Not The Territory.

If you would like to pursue the subject, please do.
I think it would be a valuable one here.

All humanity's "tools" are poor representations of reality.

And they always will be, because there is no way
we can include the complexity, the layers, and the extent of the universe.
There will always be more.

Our "tools" have been developed to help us manipulate, communicate, explore, etc.
They allow us to "focus" or "broaden" our efforts, our senses.
Language is just one of these "tools"

But to try to have your language grasp all the ambiguities of the world,
it would lose its "focus"
There is use for a bucket or pool of water, but why try to carry the ocean?

Most people can't remember the full vocabulary of their language.
And if they can't understand what you are saying, then the language you are using has lost it's "focus".

I say know your "tool" well, but also understand the matter you are "working on".
Don't go beyond what the "tool's" purpose was for in the first place.

And with language, it was communication with others,
getting your idea across.

And a good workman never blames his tools!

A good workman knows the limitations of his tools.
The tool in question is severely inadequate.

well a great philosepher once said "all that can be discribed by words should be all else should be left to silence"

I would say that thought is the mechanism by which reality is experienced, language is the tool by which thought is shared.

Without language we would not be able to experience or share our experience of "reality". It is language that gives us the self.

Language is a limited tool. This why we have art. Art allows us to express and interpret "reality" beyond the confines of the structure of language.

Expressive ability varies from language to language. Apparently English and Mandarin are great languages for puns; French and Japanese are great for poetry and German is terrible for humour but excellent for technical language use.
Essentially, I recommend having several tool kits- but equally, consider that the best moments in your life may not involve any words at all.

Each tool has a specific job to do and cannot do the job of another tool. Language is us trying to use one tool to solve all of lifes mysteries. There are other tools besides language that we must use.

madsenj37,
totally!

The problem as I see it:
we are 99.9% (a rhetorical statement, not a measured quantity) addicted to words.