Words. Chamberlin talks a lot about language, in particular the strangeness and wonder of how language works. Stories, he says, “bring us close to the world we live in by taking us into the world of words” (italics mine,1). He describes learning to read and write as learning “to be comfortable with a cat that is both there and not there” (132). Based on Chamberlin’s understanding of how riddles and charms work, explain this “world of words.” Reflect on why “words make us feel closer to the world we live in” (1).
Words help us understand and communicate with each other. On the flip side, it is very easy to miscommunicate and misunderstand. What we don’t always see is that words are very much a construction of one’s own experiences. Each word is associated with a person’s five senses or intuitive understanding. For example, when I say the word ‘teapot,’ the image you see in your head will differ from mine. Even if I were to describe to you word for word what the teapot in my mind looks like, there will still be different aspects. The concept of “words can cut, words can heal” is easy enough to grasp. However, not everyone comprehends that each person’s understanding differs from another.
A person’s understanding of stories is the same. What one hears differs from another. When orators speak, their stories are from memory and their focus differs from another orator. Looking at oration from a political realm, it is also the same. We hear certain things and make assumptions. Marcus Aurelius once said that, “everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” Although words do not always lead to a correct answer, it supports understanding amongst human beings.
Fear of the unknown is prominent in colonialism precisely because the narratives are different. A person’s worldview, although left unstated, will be intrinsic in the way they present themselves in the world. However, if we are not aware of the connections made by a person, we feel alienated and uncomfortable because we don’t know or understand the person’s understanding of the world. We live our lives in our story that provides us a sense of who we are and where we are. According to Chamberlain, stories “hold us together and at the same time keep us apart.
The world of words support people’s connections to another person which also develops their understanding of the world, but at the same time, if another’s story is too different from one’s own, people become alienated. Common ground always exists in people’s stories. It is only a matter of looking. Sometimes, the surface of one’s story seems too alien for another to grasp, but if they can focus and search a little longer, they will find that many of their experiences intersect each others.
Work Cited:
Chamberlin, Edward. If This is Your Land, Where are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground. Toronto: AA. Knopf. 2003. Print.
Morgan, Rebecca. “Rebecca Morgan’s Free Articles – Management – The Power of Our Words.” Rebecca Morgan’s Free Articles – Management – The Power of Our Words. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.
“TRUTH, Fact and Perspective.” So How Do We Know? Theory of Knowledge Website for IB DP Students. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.
Winters, Jeffrey. “Why We Fear the Unknown.” Psychology Today. N.p., June 2016. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.
Hi Jamie,
Thanks for this post! I did by blog post on the same question, so it was really interesting to hear your thoughts on the topic. The part of your post that really caught my attention was when you were talking about the fear of the unknown. I think that when people are feeling alienated or fearful they often act out in ways that are out of their character. For example, it is normal to feel self-conscious if you are surrounded by people speaking a language you do not know, or to be discussing a topic you have no knowledge about. Perhaps you would be more shy and that would come off as rude or standoffish (even if it wasn’t). I agree that fear of the unknown was a driving force behind colonialism, but what I find interesting is the assumption that many colonialists had: that the unknown is not only fearful but wrong and lesser than. I think that Chamberlin did a really nice job of unpacking why one would think something is “uncivilized”. Do you think that a lot of the racial ignorance steeped in colonialism was based from fear, or from the misunderstanding of language and traditions?
-Jenny Bachynski
Hi Jenny,
Thanks for your reply! I agree that people often act out of character especially in situations where one is surrounded in culture and language unknown to them. I want to say that they way in which a person acts often shows their base human nature… I don’t know if this is a valid example.. a person who drinks acts in a disrespectful manner. This doesn’t mean that they are necessarily provoked or controlled by the alcohol, but their inhibitions are merely lifted.
Returning to your question, if you would allow it, I want to say that we can’t necessarily separate the reason for colonialism in binary. I agree that racial ignorance was based on fear, and I also believe that it was also a misunderstanding of language and tradition. l I think fear and the misunderstanding of language and tradition are intrinsic in this situation. There are probably more reasons, but as I do not have a background in colonialism, I will only speak for these two assumed causes. Not understanding the culture, the land and the language heightened fear, and the fear increased tensions between the colonizers and the Indigenous people. Eventually, it becomes a vicious cycle of fear and misunderstanding.
Perhaps you have a different answer from mine. What do you think?
Hello Jwin – I am evaluating dialogue again, and once again I am asking on Face book – who is Jwin? Thanks.
I can’t give you your points if I can’t identify you?
Erika
Hi Jamie!
Just a little side-note that the last two hyperlinks weren’t properly pasted.
Going a little further on the words can heal and hurt others concept, I wonder if part of the reason people may not understand this concept initially is because the effects–at least, from the receiver’s end, are psychological or in other words, intangible. I remember this one Ted Talk point that stuck to me (I couldn’t find it) but it was an elderly professor who talked about the importance of taking care of psychological injuries and valuing them as much as physical injuries (despite the fact that you can see those). We are easily taught that we need band-aids and kisses for bruises and whatnot, but in terms of psychological injuries (which can involve many forms of using words such as bullying or having hurt feelings overall about something said). I am generalizing here (as people interact and understand words differently), but when we get hurt by words, it’s important to re-assess the wound and the situation and make sure that there is some clear mutual understanding about it. In doing so, it can increase the possibility of less emotional damage and confusion because both parties are not projecting or playing mind games with each other as they are clear-cut honest. And then again, sometimes words are not enough to express certain feelings, like just being there for someone you love who is suffering. So even words have a paradoxical beauty to them, all depending on who we are with.
I just wanted to end with this rather cheesy quote I saved a couple of years ago:
When someone tells you, “I love you,” and then you feel, “Oh, I must be worthy after all,” that’s an illusion. That’s not true. Or someone says, “I hate you,” and you think, “Oh, God, I knew it; I’m not very worthy,” that’s not true either. Neither one of these thoughts hold any intrinsic reality. They are an overlay. When someone says, “I love you,” he is telling you about himself, not you. When someone says, “I hate you,” she is telling you about herself, not you. World views are self views—literally.
— Adyashanti
Hello Jenny,
Thank you. I think I’ve fixed the links now.
I think that the stories that we’re hearing are dependent on how one views themselves and to what and whom their version of “I” extends to. Those narratives we hear are our choices. Voices come barging in with their judgement and opinions, and we decide what we want to hear. Sometimes we have a lack of confidence, sometimes we think we’re being treating unfairly, sometimes words give us an emotional flashback and sometimes we secretly believe that those words said are true. All of that could be an illusion because the ego and the mind is clever like that.
I agree that it’s important to re-assess and make sure that there is some clear mutual understanding about the situation so that they can be as honest as possible. At the same time, I think there are people who have difficulty changing their narrative. Although I agree with Adyashanti’s quote, I don’t think it necessarily means that all of what one feels about another person’s statement is an illusion. I hope this doesn’t hit anyone’s sore points.. Although we may or may not understand, we can’t say that a person who is in a depressive state is under an illusion. Although we might not think it is reality, it is very much real to them.
Anyway, I love the quote! I’ve copied and pasted it into my quote page as well! And, I think we can try hard to be accommodating and considerate of people’s psychological needs and traumas, but we can’t always prevent everything.. that’s just my opinion though.
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