« My Dinner | Main | My other life is an ethnobiologist »
September 26, 2008
Language is the only religion
Religion, so the devout tell us, is an expression of the soul. In its tenets, rituals, repetition and obeisance the ultimate intent that lies within the soul of the pious is transmuted from the base writhings of inconstant flesh and transmitted into the infinite aether of spirituality, transmitted directly to the mind of god and there transmuted or more aptly sublimated, through the sounding board of the divine being, into solid matter resulting in miracles, moving mountains, conversions and most importantly gossip. We all know that religion, just as any movement driven by xenophobia of some degree, thrives on gossip; chinese whispers ensures that yesterday's serendipitous coincidence becomes tomorrows miracle.
If you control the language of a people you really do control their soul. The 'soul of a people' is their expression, the will made material, their character, their very thoughts.
When you learn a new language you become a new person. The insights you gain from learning the idiomatic expressions of a culture that is new to you leverages new vistas into your own psyche and your own culture and everything you hold dear. It is difficult to be a facist and learn a different language - it takes dedication, or pre-meditation.
Modern culture moves more and more toward ad-hoc social groupings, recent traditions and fadishness. The constant need to relearn the vocabulary, both linguistic and cultural, of these ever shifting cultures means that introversion of any sort is discarded. It becomes very easy for charismatic individuals, or those with ulterior motives to drive the development of these cultures.
The narrowing of language by this constant innovation frames debate by limiting thought. Reducing the active vocabulary to include mostly words and phrases that echo the language of society's nabobs creates individuals who mirror the exemplar.
Limited language produces limited thought. Limited thought generally limits intelligence. Limited intelligence creates leverage.
Religion is the only previous example of a cultural phenomenon that gained more leverage than seems logical. In fact religion is just an applied form of language.
Language is the new religion - welcome to hell.
Posted by dottie at September 26, 2008 11:35 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.5thpercentile.com/blog/mt-tb.cgi/147