Wednesday 20 July 2011

The Flipside.

You know the old saying 'The truth will set you free?'

There's an alternative, and unpleasantly ironic, way of understanding it.

And in similar vein, I continue to be reminded just how inadequate the written word is when it comes to deep and difficult levels of communication. You can be an excellent writer, you can construct your statements carefully and completely, you can go to some trouble to place the emphases where you need them to be. And yet the reader will still see what their mindset conditions them to see. What jumps out at them won't necessarily be what you want to jump out. People read through a filter, and however carefully you say something, you've no idea how it will enter the reader's mind. Which is why I try to avoid expressing deep and difficult things in writing, especially when the reader, the reader's feelings, and the reader's opinion of me matter a lot.

2 comments:

KMcCafferty said...

It's been a while since I've visited, and I'm glad that I found the time tonight. "Language is a failure" is something we learned freshman year of college. An entire three weeks were spent on the subject. And then there's Derrida and his "Of Grammatology" (nothing exists without language).

Relieved to see you're still posting things that manage to make my mind's gears work a bit harder than the other blogs I follow. Like I said, I'm glad I stopped by tonight Jeff.

JJ said...

Thank you, Kaetlyn, thank you. I'm going through some difficulties at the moment and this was a breath of spring. Blessings. Enjoy your new freedom.