# Words
- URL: https://www.petrikajander.com/words/
- Author: Petri Kajander
- Date: 2004-09-07
- Language: en
- Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th-RHk5TQoM

Our communication is mainly verbal—at least the visible one.  
We speak, read, and think in words all the time.

Let's get the basics sorted out first. We need conventions in order to communicate with each other. In traffic, we use traffic signs and lights to signal. We agree that some sign or mark means something and then everybody gets used to interpreting the meaning. This is actually the same with words as well. They are just a way of communicating and making things easier. By definition they are no more than alphabets in some recognizable order.

We take for granted that the symbols (words) we use are precise in nature. But the reality is the opposite. Everybody is living in their own perception of the world. The easiest example is to ask someone to describe the association of a word to be presented. For example, asking people to draw what we mean by a "chair" demonstrates that the drawings do not look even closely similar. And we haven't even begun to consider more complex and abstract concepts like globalization and freedom, to name a few.

A lot of misunderstandings and harm are caused by using words. People mean something and interpret it the other way—their own way. The most powerful words might be related to our religion, faith, and politics. Some of these symbols have gained a sacred status. The words have started to live their own lives. Their original purpose of describing and referring to the real issue has been forgotten or blurred somewhere in the process. Our history is full of "holy" wars and massacres for the "greater cause." Idealisms have become more important than human beings. By using words we can divert and disconnect the reality and get carried away by the pure power of concepts. In the name of these symbols we're ready to kill people and do amazing things. Seldom do people really ask about the basics and fundamental meanings of these symbols. Words are easy to use and even more easy to abuse. They are powerful and so precise in their outlook, but their actual meaning is mostly less simple and clear. And we live by getting confused by their looks.