Are your words limiting what you can see?

Humans have always found it easier to describe things we don’t understand in terms of things we do understand. When the automobile was invented, we didn’t know what to call it, so we called it a “horseless carriage.” We also had no words to describe how much power the engine had. So we compared it to the only thing we were familiar with – “horse power.” The British word for flashlight is still – “torch.” We say our computer program has a “bug” in it. Describing the unknown in terms of the known is a very primitive skill. Apes can do this too. Upon seeing a swan for the first time, a chimp trained in sign language signed the words “water bird.” All forms of communication are mere weak representations of what we see, feel, hear and smell. Words are not truth. They are an approximation of truth.

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