Ever wonder about words? Here’s a simple thought experiment of a kind. Find an object in your home. Nothing too complex….it should be mundane. A pencil, your remote, or maybe toothbrush. Now look at it. Contemplate it. Think about it’s meaning and purpose. Think hard, or as hard as you can think (poor dope), about it. Now say it’s name…not in your head but out loud. Say it over and over while staring at it. Keep saying the word until it dawns on you that the word is nothing. It’s a simple series of sounds..gibberish.

Now, I know as well as anyone that the word isn’t gibberish. Of course language is useful, and it serves a purpose, but it’s a strange sensation for a word to fall apart in your head and turn into a sound. It’s almost like hearing a foreign language. Often, the same thing happens when staring at a written word too long. Recently, I wrote the word “summer” in a sentence. It looked like it was spelled wrong, and the more that I stared the more wrong it looked. Now, I’m not a total idiot, I know how to spell ‘summer,’ but it just looked wrong. If you try this, make sure it’s a word that’s longer, but that you know without a doubt how to spell.

What does all this mean? Not sure. I think it’s a demonstration of the frailties of our perceptions, if that makes any sense. Are objects and ideas really described by our speech and language? Or is that connection tenuous at best?

My head hurts.