The Word

The Word
By Bobby Winters
I get on the computer and do Duolingo every morning: Spanish, Hindi, and Russian.  I also like to learn programming languages: I spent a few years learning Python and now I am learning C++.  The two activities are connected by similar tastes and similar aptitudes.  I also, as those of you who are here reading this know, spend a certain amount of time writing, looking for the right word.  (Digging out that word aptitude above makes me kind of proud.)
Words are important.
Words are important for communication, but words are also important for thinking.
In mathematics, we have demonstrated this better than elsewhere.  We define our terms precisely; we distill our ideas to their sharpest form.  While we cannot capture all truth (and we’ve even proven that!) what we say is true.  That is the quintessence of mathematics.  We can be sure of our propositions because of the care we take with language.
These ideas are not new with me.  I can point to the first verse of the Gospel of John in the New Testament: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”  Here they are translating the Greek “logos” as “word”; logos can also be translated as “holy wisdom” but that just goes to show how important words are.
In communicating, there is an art in exactly how much precision one needs to use.  That verse from John is a good example.  One can fill libraries with what that means, but the reader will have neither the patience nor the lifespan.  Sometimes the best choice is to leave something for the reader to work out for him/herself.
In this, I’ve come to appreciate how the electrical engineers communicate.  Like mathematicians, they have special symbols that they use. I am speaking, in particular, of logic gates.  These are symbols that are denoted by the words and, or, not, nand, xor etc.  These symbols, which are used in electronic diagrams, stand in for hideously complicated configurations of transistors, diodes, resistors, switches, and so on.  They mask out the complication so that the reader may more quickly grasp the point.  Once the diagram is understood at this level, the reader can then proceed to learn at a greater level of detail.
Communicating with clarity requires the proper level of detail.  I’ve a friend and former coworker who likes to joke by stating things in a very precise way. For example, he might ask, “Are you enjoying your caffeine laden particles suspended in a solution of hydrogen dioxide at a temperature of 80 degrees centigrade?” instead of asking, “Do you like your coffee?”  He does this for humor, but it makes an excellent point.  Detail does not mean effective communication.
Communicating is teaching.  Teaching about a subject is like this.  You first draw a big circle and say the thing is in here.  There might be exceptions, but the circle captures the essence.  When the student gets it, you then draw a smaller circle inside the big one and so forth.  Each time you capture the essence of the concept but you get closer than the time before.  Then you must stop at the right time or the forest disappears behind a tree.
When we are teaching our children about the sexes, we talk in cloudy but accurate ways:  That is Jane’s mommy; that is Jane’s daddy.  That is a momma dog; that is a daddy dog. While--to be sure--sex is a lot more complicated than that, this way of speaking captures something that is essential to the workings of human life.  If one pushes too deeply, one can lose the whole world behind a chromosome.
There is something holy about language. Sure we need to be, uh, judicious in our use of profanity, and “Thou shalt not take the Lord’s name in vain.”  But dare I say, more importantly even than that, we need to take care in speaking both truly and kindly. Sometimes it is best not to speak at all.
Here is an exercise.  Take a period of time, say a day or week, and during that time only say things that are both true and kind.  If you are in politics, you might want to start in five-minute intervals. And all of us will have longer periods of silence while we think about what is true and kind.
Bobby Winters, a native of Harden City, Oklahoma, blogs at redneckmath.blogspot.com and okieinexile.blogspot.com. He invites you to “like” the National Association of Lawn Mowers on Facebook. )