The Greatest Disclaimer

Throughout my website, I will use a faulty tool to express all my ideas. But before I reveal what that faulty tool is, let’s talk a bit about language.

Language?

Yeah. Just think for a second how massively important language is! We express most of our thoughts, if not all, using languages. Be it calling a taxi or asking the price of brown leather shoes, we use language all the time. Could you imagine how easy the life has become just because of language?

But, if language is so good, why do we have endless miscommunications in the world? Why do you say something and your friends interpret it in a completely different way?

Let's take a very silly example. When someone says, "I love you," they may mean that they want to spend the night with someone, while the other person may be thinking of spending the rest of her life with that person. Isn't it extremely confusing without universal understanding of what each words actually mean?

But now imagine you are an enlightened thinker, and you want to communicate thought provoking ideas. Do you think language is good enough to express all the deep thoughts and ideas you have in your head? Seems unlikely. Don't you feel language has limitations that have visible effect on how you think and express your thinking. It’s not your fault; you are just another human being trying to communicate using languages which has inherent limitations.

If language were flawless and entirely suited for conveying thoughts, there would be no confusion in the world. If each word had a singular and precise meaning, devoid of ambiguity, and if every word functioned as an ideal expression, language would be an exceptional tool. In such a scenario, readers could effortlessly grasp the writer's intended meaning without room for interpretation, let alone misinterpretation. However, due to the absence of a universally agreed-upon meaning for each word, multiple interpretations arise in everything, whether it's a sacred text or a friend's social media post.

We need to keep in mind that language wasn’t created in a sophisticated lab to make sure it includes all the perfect words to describe all the depths and layers of our emotions and experiences. What if language is just incapable of describing these things precisely?

So many philosophers have argued on deeper and transcendental issues like what is God, beauty, justice, love, truth, or the meaning of life. Centuries after centuries, they argued back and forth, and they could never come to an agreement on any of it. What could be the reason? Could it be that they were using an inappropriate tool for the job? These are deep transcendental questions. As I stated in the beginning, language is a great tool for calling a taxi or asking the price of brown leather shoes in a shopping mall. But maybe language just is not the right tool for answering questions like what is the meaning of life.

The great Austrian philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, would say that we can find the meaning of our life, but may be not using language. Most importantly, even if we ever find the meaning of life, we will never be able to describe it through language. We can only experience it. Ludwig Wittgenstein famously said,

Do you think language will ever reach a point when it will be able to pinpoint and express all our experiences with universal understanding?

Now, what is the disclaimer I wanted to give?

Disclaimer: Even though language is a faulty tool, it's the best thing we have. Hence, this disclaimer. In all my upcoming articles, I will try to explain my own understanding of many ideas. I will try to write in a way that's clear and leaves less room for misinterpretation. But, I know that I will never be able to do that. I hope you will enjoy all the thought-provoking articles.