Limitations of Language

[caronbot]

After reading Langer's dissertation on, I suppose, expression (?) I find myself confused as to how to take and apply it to our study of narrative.  It fits in very well to our discussions about both technological and social evolution of narrative as needed, in that "language is a very poor medium for expressing our emotional language" (Langer 100

Comments

[jamiebussey86]

This will be a very ill-informed comment, but I also found myself asking "Why and I reading this?" I actually took a break from it to get on here, because it was giving me flashbacks (not good ones, but ones of utter confusion) to sophomore year with sign and signifier in Dr. Foys 210 class.

But through reading everyone's musings I am getting a better understanding. I agree with Matt, when he says, Forgive this seemingly haphazard musing, but it seems to me that if given enough time, people will constantly examine and re-examine our means and find them lacking. Language wasn't good enough, so we needed writing. Writing wasn't productive enough, we needed print. Print was too exclusive, not connected enough, so we needed television, radio, etc. Then computers came about...

I think that technological developments are a part of human nature in an odd way.

I also liked when ammamc said, How many times has anyone become so frustrated when a thought in their mind or an image they had just imagined could not be easily translated onto pen and paper?

I often feel frustrated when I can not communicate effectively, whether it is in school paper's or over email. This is sort of related, but tonight I actually wrote an email, and made a joke in it, but I was so worried that the joke would be taken the wrong way, because the person wouldn't be able to hear my tone, and might not know me well enough to know my sense of humor. Even through LiveJournal I find people reading things not as I had meant them (perhaps that is my fault, I don't really know).

Finally I agree with Ross, when he says, I doubt any medium will ever supply an adequate way for allowing humans to express feeling. I mean even if we could express a feeling adequately, would someone else interpret it correctly?