Labels and things

Suppose you didn't understand English. Someone shouts, "Look out!", but it is just a foreign sound. You see the big red bus coming towards you and you jump out the way. You know the experience, but the words of warning were just sound!

Later, you learn English and someone shouts, "Look out!" and you jump out of the way. Then, you see the big red bus. But, this time, you acted on the words before you saw the danger. The words are still only sound but you reacted to them in the same way as you earlier did to the reality, the movement of the big red bus. Because you now know English, the sounds, or words, become a label for danger. Later, it is possible that the words and the reality become confused or identified as the same thing.

Let's look at the three practical observations about communication. The first is that words are merely labels - loosely attached to the things they signify - they are not the thing itself.

The second observation is that the words and the language are not just a code, like a computer code, but contain cultural significance. They have deep emotional roots within every person who learns the language as a mother tongue. Rather than extracting meaning from the words, as the recipient of a communication we put our meanings into them based on our own interpretation and understanding.

The third observation is that our perception of the external world is determined, and/or modified by the language we use.

From these empirical truths, we can conclude that the unfinished business of childhood (such as trauma) causes us problems through our language. What can we do about it? The answer lies especially in making sure that we avoid misunderstood words by using a dictionary to define them. When this is done on a routine basis, even (or especially) for everyday words that cannot readily be defined, the power of verbal tags attached to past trauma is much reduced Perception and thinking become clearer and less subject to automatic responses.

Do words affect the way we see the world?

Words are not just labels. They contain our experience. Here is an example.

Imagine these objects placed on a piece of white paper:

This is the sort of data that a child of two would have on viewing these objects. Now think for a moment! What do they have in common? It's unlikely that you can find anything! A two-year-old child, without language, could not classify these, because the child would have no word to link them together. But you can. When you are told they are seeds, you even see the description differently!

At first it is hard when child begins to learn words. An Alsatian and a Pekinese are both dogs, but look quite different. After a lot of trial and error, the child gets the idea. Because of its experience, the child then eventually sees dogs as obviously similar. There are no more examples of calling a cat 'doggie'. But each child's experience is different from that of others.

In learning the words of our language a process of classification is continually going on. The child learns to classify and order his perceptual experiences as a result of two contrary processes. The first is to classify as similar those things that appear somewhat different but have a lot in common; for example, an oak tree and an elm tree are both classified as trees despite their differences. The second process is discrimination. In learning to speak the child also discovers that certain things are not as similar as they seem; for example a knife and fork are both cutlery and used for eating but quite different in function.

Through learning the simple common words of everyday speech, a child gradually and unconsciously acquires knowledge (implicit in the relationships between the words) that in many instances took the human race ages to arrive at. For example the word 'hit' has many connotations when used in context, that the child may not have otherwise understood, such as the concepts of violence or tools or achievement. A look at the Dictionary or Roget's Thesaurus will demonstrate the extensive range of meanings that are available in language, the fruit of all of Man's cultural history. Adding the dimension of another language, further expands the range of concepts. Every concept is also colored by the individual's own life experience.

Words as labels

When we communicate to someone we are usually trying to get that person to think about something in the same way that we are. For example, when we use the word 'wheel-barrow' in the sentence, "May I borrow your wheel-barrow?" we assume the listener understands 'wheel-barrow' in the same way that we do. Look at the following figure 1:

Mr A and Mr B do not necessarily understand the word 'wheel-barrow' in the same way, but they do so sufficiently well as to communicate the essential meaning. It certainly is not a rake or bucket. The word is an effective label for the object. Mr A might have in mind a new wheelbarrow, with a ball instead of a wheel and Mr B may think of his old conventional barrow, yet little confusion will result. In either case, Mr A can wheel away his manure! We need to recognize that, even in such simple cases, associations abound. Figure 2 illustrates the secondary associations that may exist concurrently with the effective communication:

Here, the circles represent mental acts of reference. It is evident that not all the projecting arrows are pointed in the direction appropriate to effective communication.

From this, we can represent the principle of effective concurrent associations as in figure 3:

The 'thing' referred to in this case is the overall rectangle. This is represented in Mr. A's mind by a variety of different experiences and meanings. Mr. B represents the object or subject by a different set of experiences and meanings (shaded differently). In this case they have only one of these representations in common (the central square).

It is a condition of effective communication that the experiences of the persons concerned should be sufficiently similar. It may be necessary to bear this in mind and explain one's personal experience of a concept, before that concept can be clearly communicated.

Additionally the definition of the key word being discussed must be clearly understood by both persons or they will be talking at cross-purposes. This is why a student should be able to define all the words used on this course.

General Words

A further barrier to effective communication is the dimension of complexity. The more general a term is, the more variations are included in its reference. 'Music' is a word that describes many different types of the same thing. The experience and the definition may be the same, but the music definitely not! To one person, it might mean 'rock', to another 'classical'. Both might say they like music, but they are referring to different kinds of music.

Mr A ------------------> Music <------------------ Mr B

Rock                                                       Classical

Both are, apparently, quite in harmony on the subject of music and all goes well - until they agree to spend an evening listening to music and discover that the one hates classical and the other hates rock!

This example is a simple illustration. Mr A and Mr B would not really have a problem because they would surely refer to the type of music they liked. However, this is not possible in every case. You should keep in mind how this confusion might arise. Although misunderstanding can arise with general or conceptual words, even concrete words can have quite a different meaning to different people. This is especially true when we consider the emotional and even painful associations that may relate to a given word.

Emotional meanings

Suppose someone witnessed an accident on a pedestrian crossing. The next time that person sees a pedestrian crossing, he begins to think of the accident and relives the unpleasantness. Not only the crossing itself, but also just the words 'pedestrian crossing' would remind him of the bad experience. It is interesting that people tend to lose the meaning of a word that has traumatic associations and think about it in a very general way, to try to avoid the unpleasantness. The word does not recall the experience and so becomes a blank label, and the person becomes indiscriminate on that subject.

All of us have had similar experiences, that affect our well being in this way, and muddy our thinking. When these experiences are minor, we can keep them out of mind by an act of will. When they are major, they are suppressed and we are unable to recall them at all; they are forgotten but nevertheless they are still causing a disruption in the workings of our minds. In either case, a great amount of mental energy is wasted in keeping out of mind the things that we don't want to remember and in the effort required to remain objective.

Look at the following diagram:

Mr A ---------------> Pedestrian Crossing <---------------- Mr B

Bad Experience                                     Pedestrian Crossing

To Mr B, the word 'pedestrian crossing' means the thing, but to Mr A it means the bad experience. When Mr A and Mr B have a conversation and the subject of pedestrian crossings arises, it might be noted that Mr A becomes vague and not quite all there - or not logical.

Language is needed to communicate and to study. So, when experience adversely affects language, you cannot communicate as well as you are potentially able and you cannot study so well either. By practicing the communication exercises and ensuring that all words are correctly defined we can learn to overcome the obstacles that our past experience has created. Once the meaning of a word is fully known and this word has been used in the various communication exercises in this course, it can no longer have an effect us unconsciously, and muddy our thinking. Confusion at the pre-conscious level is reduced, so mental energy is released. Left hemisphere dominance is reduced, thus the dominance of language as a vehicle of social reality is reduced also: perceptual channels are open to the natural reality... the world of things that are.

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Copyright © 2004 Gregory Mitchell - Published by Trans4mind