Language conceals reality - Printable Version +- Scivillage.com Casual Discussion Science Forum (https://www.scivillage.com) +-- Forum: Science (https://www.scivillage.com/forum-61.html) +--- Forum: Alternative Theories (https://www.scivillage.com/forum-130.html) +--- Thread: Language conceals reality (/thread-15509.html)

Language conceals reality - C C - Feb 26, 2024 Echos theory-ladenness a tad, in some respects (but more generic). - - - - - - - - - https://iai.tv/articles/language-conceals-reality-auid-2756 INTRO: We normally think of words as a tool for describing the world around us. A helpful shorthand or label for expressing meaning. But words have power. The way we describe things affects how we see them. But worse still, words, by directing attention, can act as off-switches for the mind, limiting a broader understanding of a situation, argues Nick Enfield. EXCERPTS: How I see an image is a private matter. But how I label it is an imposition upon others. Think about this when you are next in an art gallery. The plaque next to each exhibit contains words that constrain how you view the exhibit.... This is linguistic framing. It is one of the things that language is especially good for. Framing is not just a different way of viewing a scene. It is an act of influence. It uses language to direct people to see things in one way as opposed to the other ways they might have seen them. This tends to shut off our awareness of those other ways of seeing. Framing can be used intentionally to distract from other available frames. But even when you have no interest in misleading people, as with the trophy-faces image, you have no choice but to pick one way of seeing things at a time... (MORE - details) RELATED (?): Sapir–Whorf hypothesis RE: Language conceals reality - confused2 - Feb 26, 2024 Or you can do it like this (the Louvre in Paris): Been there. If there is a speck of dust on the floor it would be a fair representation of this guy from a grotty town in the north of England . RE: Language conceals reality - Magical Realist - Feb 27, 2024 It takes effort to experience a piece of art without the preexisting narrative of words imposed upon it. Facts about the artist and their style and what critics say about the work. Just seeing the work as an experience in itself--the colors and shapes and composition. The subject and the perspective upon it. What is the artwork speaking to you personally? What feelings and associations rise up in you as you look at it? We need to respect this pure and wordless experience of art as an experience outside of language. As a viscerally felt exploration of Being in itself in its phenomenal power of merely appearing before us.