We attach such importance to words—to our command of language, to our eloquence (or lack thereof), to our ability to weave fascinating stories with just our tongues and lips. Words—language—these are all the hallmarks of intelligent life and advanced civilization; our incredible communication skills, light years ahead of what any other animals have achieved, set us apart.
The other day, three of my nephews came to visit. They had had a long day of swimming and running around, and all three were presently perched on the couch, staring wide-eyed at the TV screen as it played one of their favorite shows. My mother called us all for dinner, and the oldest of the three objected that their show was still running on the television—to which my mother quickly replied, hardly even hearing, “Leave it, come on, let’s eat.”
My father—always the wiser when it comes to technology—yelled, “No, wait, pause it,” and my mother immediately echoed, “Pause it, boys.” All three looked at me in confusion and it struck me in that moment that my mother hadn’t comprehended my father’s words before repeating them; if she had, she would have asked me to pause it, or done it herself; the remote control was high out of their reach, and I wasn’t even totally sure that any of the three boys knew what button would pause the show. It may seem insignificant, but in that moment I realized that words—important and advanced as human language may be—can be entirely meaningless if not properly understood before spoken.
I do not mean simply that we understand the literal definition of words, but that we understand the implications of what we are saying. A child can say, “I want to touch the candle flame,” but because he does not understand the pain associated with touching the flame, his words are tantamount to gibberish. He does not really want to touch the flame because touching the flame means being burned; he only thinks that he does. He does not understand the implications of his words, so can we really attach any value or importance to them?
In the same way, someone can argue that all immigrants should be barred from our country—but usually such a person does not consider the human lives—children’s lives, innocent lives—we would have saved if only we had let them through our fences. Likewise, someone can argue that all immigrants should be welcomed into our country—but usually such a person does not consider the bomb-wielding terrorists who will inevitably take advantage of our hospitality. Do their words truly hold meaning or value just for being spoken, if they are not truly aware of the implications of those words?
Words—language—expression—all of these are central tenets of what makes us human, what sets us apart from the linguistically-handicapped chimps and gorillas and little spider monkeys. But what is language without meaning? What is speaking without understanding? Words are only meaningful if we understand their inherent meaning. It is the same with languages other than those we speak—an English speaker can babble out French words for as long as he wants. It doesn’t make any of the French words meaningful if he is only repeating them from the French dictionary.
My mother echoed my father without thinking about what she was saying; a child wants to touch a candle flame without knowing the pain of being burned; people speak on political matters without fully understanding the consequences. It’s time we put a little more weight in our words and stopped using them so flippantly. What is language if it’s meaningless?
