The Falsehood of the Symbol

I've been elaborating a concept over the past several posts that's pretty slippery. It's quite possible that human symbolic language arises from a shared internal model of the world that's built into our minds. The model's the dictionary for a form of lossy compression, so we're able to convey a lot of information with a  very low data rate stream of symbols.

That internal model, though, isn't entirely amenable to symbolic translation, and often that internal model is quite low fidelity compared to our sensory experience of the world. All the words written on dandelions, for example, are a feeble replacement for sitting on the ground and looking at one, or eating one.

Writing or drawing, or statuary are not only a low fidelity version of reality, they're also a falsehood. They include a concept that's arguably alien, or an alien presence on earth. They bring about the notion of permanence. In a world of change and cycles, a symbol scrawled on a rock can endure. An idea can seem to separate from the man who thought it.

The man can become subservient to the idea and the word. The mind and waking experience can become subservient to the symbol and this distortion can become the primary experience.