Reason and freedom

It is in my nature that I question everything said....or even proved. In that way I am just like Phoebe Buffet in "Friends"...Do you remember that show where Phoebe doesn't believe in Evolution, which totally freaks Ross out? Well, I do not believe in aliens like Phoebe, but she does have a point when pointing out that scientists have believed in many things throught the history, only to discover later that they were wrong (like when they thought that the atom was the smallest thing on Earth and then when "they opened it up, a whole lot of crap came out" - to quote Phoebs)...

Anyway, if we get back to language.....I read this book the other day about Jung's and Nietshce's theories....And I came across "reason"....It was mentioned on many occasions that reason should often be neglected and instincts followed. My question is, then, what exactly is REASON and how should we not "use" it? Maybe the word is misused. Let's check what the dictionary has to say:

Reason =

1. objective, can be fixed by study...; has divine attributes (Plato, Aristotle)
2. subjective, to form concepts (time and space) that are the conditions of experience;
...

Reading about reason, I do not get a clear definition. I don't think there is one. The meaning of reason is, and that I am sure of, closely related to language, logic and consciousness. And precisely because of that, it's even more confusing when it is suggested that we "should turn our reason off" and follow our instincts. I don't understand this. I've always believed reason and instincts are interrelated. I am sure they are. Well, perhaps, reason is more a conscious thing and instinct is more a subconscious thing, and yet, I don't get it how you can simply "turn" one of them off. The problem probably lies in the way the authors convey that bizzare idea. Perhaps they should be more specific, or is it simply that I am incapable of grasping it?...

LANGUAGE itself, and specifically the MEANING of language (on my part - entailing very thoroug and specific definitions) is something to think about carefully.

Now to move to yet another dimension (even though the above one is not even close to being completed...), It's pretty awful when you think about it = we are BORN into set rules of expressing ourselves. And we haven't participated in making of any of these rules...And these set rules FORM our way of thinking. Let's say we feel something that is impossible to express in our language or any language for that matter. How do we get it out? We either look for it with the words/meanings we have at our disposal or we simply forget about it...or it forgets itself and waits somewhere in our subconsciousness - somewhere deep down there, trapped and unable to get to the surface of the self. So, basically, we are UNABLE to develop our true SELF. This really sucks! Now is the time to mention the word "freedom". I am not talking about freedom in the sense of human rights freedom...I am talking about freedom in the sense of having a free spirit, being free in the soul and mind. A long while ago, I read an interview with some Native American tribe, the name of which I cannot remember, and when a certain member of this tribe was asked how it feels to be free, he responded that he does not understand the word. He asked the interviewee to explain the word, and the interviewee found himself dumbfounded. He did not know how to explain the meaning of the word free. Are you surprised? Don't be, because the concept DOESN'T exist. Well, the concept DOES exist, but in reality, it is impossible. You CANNOT be free. And you are NOT FREE. I am not trying to be pessimistic here. Not at all. I am just analyzing the meaning of freedom.

I checked out the entries of the word freedom in several dictionaries. There are numerous definitions of the word. Yes, you can be free in terms of not being locked up. You can be free in terms of not being a slave, et cetera. But, let's have a look at the deeper meaning of being free, a philosophical meaning of the word, if you will.

The following entries of the word FREEDOM are from the online dictionaries (klick on definitions, and the link will take you to the website, where I found the definitions):

1. not determined by anything beyond its own nature or being : choosing or capable of choosing for itself
2. not obstructed, restricted, or impeded

3. exempt from external authority, interference, restriction, etc., as a person or one's will, thought, choice, action, etc.; independent; unrestricted.

4. the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy; self-determination.

5. is the right to act according to ones will without being held up by the power of others. From a philosophical point of view, it can be defined as the capacity to determine your own choices.


I believe it is clear, at this point that the word is paradoxical, because one can NEVER be entirely free. You can never "act upon your will without being held up by the power of others or other "things". You are, and always will be dependent on SOMETHING. You will always be dependent on the food and water you need to survive. As I mentioned above, you are born into set rules of expressing yourself. So, you are never really free to express what you want (at this stage we probably aren't even conscious of our "buried" in the subconsciousness thoughts that might not be expressible in our languages). You are never free because you need to pay those bills, look after your house or apartment, use the cell-phone, use the train- and bus schedules, work from 8 to 5, ... you are never REALLY free because you have to LIVE (I am not implying that death is freedom. NO! I am just implying the ridiculousness of the usage of the word. It's paradoxical, in this world we live in, and totally useless. Here the emphasis is NOT on the other physical meanings of freedom, mind you! Freedom from slavery, for example., in which case the word freedom is must!). You have to live according to the set rules. You can't take a bus at ANY time you want. You must take it according to the schedules available. You can't eat once a month, because you would die of hunger. You can't work from 5 p.m. to 12 p.m. because the working hours are from 8 to 5. You can't harvest rye in December, because it grows in autumn. You can't walk on ceilings because of gravitation.
So, that Native American was ignorant about the word, and rightfully so. The word doesn't exist in his world, because the concept doesn't. And there is nothing wrong with that. I don't know why we invented it in the first place. Maybe under the pretense that it can make our lives easier. Maybe because we've created too many burdens for ourselves. We like to think we are free. It gives us comfort....One could go on and on about WHY we have the words FREE and FREEDOM in our world....But for now, I shall wrap this discussion up.

ta ta

T.

★ PONS slovarji

Končno smo v Sloveniji dobili soliden angleško slovenski in slovensko angleški slovar. Pons ga je izdal lani (2008). Navdušenje, še posebej v primerjavi z obupnim DZZS slovarjem, s katerim si niti šolarji ne morejo pomagati, kaj šele prevajalci.

Novi PONSov slovar pa je že za 100% bolj uporaben. Prevodi so natančni in podkrepljeni s stavčnimi primeri, tako da določene besede ali fraze v Angleščini res ne moremo uporabiti napačno.

Še posebej navdušena sem bila nad šolskim slovarjem, ki postreže z aktualnim besediščem, primeri rabe v stavkih, slovničnim pregledom in (jupi) z vzorci pisem. Ful dober slovar, ga priporočam vsem v osnovni in srednji šoli!

Za prevajalce se je prevajalska nočna mora končala z internetom (phew! sploh si ne predstavljam prevajanja brez interneta; seveda sem ne prištevam internetnega prevajanja) in pa z izidom neprecenljivega velikega Oxfordovega angleško-slovenskega slovarja. Na žalost je dokaj drag, ampak vseeno neprecenljiv. Vijak, na primer, nima ENEGA prevoda, kot v DZZSjevem slovarju, temveč za vsak tip vijaka svoj prevod in definicijo. To je velik napredek za naše slovarje:)

Nasvet: šolarji, hitro v knjigarne po PONSov slovar.:)

★ IDIOM(/T)S ★

I’ve come across some very useful vocabulary in the past few weeks. Well, it should be useful; the only problem is that I can't find any use for some of it. I guess this is due to the fact that I do not really understand the meaning of, or the idea behind, certain phrases, words or idioms; otherwise I am sure I would be deliriously happy about the fact that I am enriching my vocabulary as well as my imagination.

It is not easy to speak a foreign language well. Every nation has shaped its language psyche according to their specific customs and distinct cultures, and sometimes, these customs were and still are extremely different from nation to nation. I guess that’s why, being a non-native speaker of English, I sometimes can’t find a logical explanation for English idioms.

I’ve always found it amusing to compare the idioms of different nations. In my language, which is Slovenian by the way, when someone is very healthy we say that they are healthy as a fish. In Spain they are healthy as bulls, in France as horses and in Germany they are not healthy as animals at all. 

The first time someone told me I was pulling their leg, I thought that meant I was offending them and not that they thought I was fooling them. What does pulling a leg have to do with fooling someone? I thought that the way idioms were created was that there was some sort of an everyday thing exaggerated but that there is always at least a little bit of a literal meaning in it... Anyway, I thought they were pulling my leg when they told me what that idiom meant. What a silly idiom, I thought. But then it occurred to me that in my language we pull each other’s noses, which is even sillier!

And then there are those big differences in using nouns and prepositions in idioms. In my language I usually ‘remember things on mind’. Nobody would understand me in English if I tried to explain that they had to remember something utterly important ‘on mind’. They take things far more seriously than that. They remember things ‘by heart’, which is one of the central organs mythically, romantically and of course physically for human beings.

Some idioms can, luckily, be interpreted logically, for example, ‘to vent the spleen’. We have the verb ‘to vent’, which means ‘to release’, or ‘to give expression to’. Then we have the noun ‘spleen’, which is ‘anger’, ‘melancholy’, or ‘bad spirit’. So, basically, I do not have any spleen to vent now because this idiom is so easy to crack. It means to express the anger or bad spirits; or to get all that troubles you out of your system. Hey, that’s another idiom. This idiom business is actually duck soup for me. I am a genius. Now I am just tooting my own horn.

Anyway, there are some idioms that do not give away their meaning simply by a translation of the individual words. Rather, one has to grasp the idea behind them, for example, ‘to beat a dead horse’. We know what ‘to beat’ means, and we know what ‘a horse’ is. But why would someone beat a horse that is already dead? (Why would anyone beat any horse!?) Precisely in that question lies the answer. It is ridiculous to try to do something all over again when it is already done. Therefore, someone who is beating a dead horse is doing something, or saying something that has already been done or discussed and there is no need to say or do it again. There is no need to bore others by saying or doing it again. 

However logical or easy some idioms are to interpret, there are more complex ones that are not so easy to crack. Sometimes they are impossible to understand, and in a lot of cases, one cannot find an alternative for them in one's own language or culture. One example is ‘to have an axe to grind’. On first glance you might think it means ’to sharpen the axe’. An axe is a tool which is used for chopping or cutting and is sharp. If we need to sharpen a tool, symbolically, this would mean that we need to be more decisive or sharp in our actions or decisions. But that is not what this idiom means at all. To be honest, I do not understand it. And I feel now as if my ‘idiomatic’ communication in English will never progress. I have surely reached the end of my tether.

;=)

★ THE MIDDLE FINGER

Swear words and slang are part of our language. Swear words are considered impolite and slang is considered informal, yes. But since they ARE part of our language(s), they deserve some attention as well. And don't blame me. Blame the ancient Emperors, blame Shakespeare, blame the society's stupid governmental organizations which make people swear, blame life. All I'm doing here is "academic analysis", I am not propagating bad behavior. Ok, now that we've made this clear we can get down to business.

Not only a few swear words have a "swear touch". So do signs. I am not talking about sign language, but certain signs we create with our hands, which carry specific meaning. I am talking about flipping the FAMOUS middle finger, or the bird, if you will.

Flipping the middle finger goes WAY WAY back into our past, surprisingly enough. I found a story that allegedly gives the background to how we started using the middle finger as an insult along with the F-word. Of course, there are many stories about it, but I choose to believe this one. As it turns out, digitus impudicus ("impudent finger") is found already in the Ancient Roman writings and there is a reference of the middle finger in an ancient Greek comedy to use the middle finger to insult another person. Aristophanes, the Greek playwritght, made a joke about mixing up the middle finger and the penis. So, the Greek and the Romans did not only import art and culture and a few words to England, and consequently America and the rest of the world, but flipping the bird as well;).

As for the origins, I believe it comes from "up your ars". In procreation, this is the wrong "way", and it is the wrong "tool". :) That is why the finger is turned upwards, not downwards. And as for the middle finger, it is the longest and most likely to appear as a penis. And hence the insult. It's going the wrong way, and it probably hurts as well. :) I am not sure, but these seem like liable explanations.

According to a historian, a Roman Emperor Caligula, a pioneer of perversity (now we know where the present Italian president gets it from;)) forced his people to kiss his middle finger.

During the Middle Ages, the finger went underground because the Holy Church went balistic upon its use. But, in the 19th century, it became popular again, this time because of photography.

In 1886, a famous baseball player flipped his finger in a photo and since then, everyone started using it again.


Today, everyone knows and uses it. Even dogs seem to know what it means. But of course, I am not making propaganda of using the finger here. The society says it's a taboo and a sign of vulgarity. So, you know what they say: don't try this at home:) or anywhere in the public for that matter.

However, as we all know, it has been used in the public. Numerous times and even by presidents. If you don't believe me, check it out here. But I don't think it's too hard to believe that this very president flipped a finger, is it?

To end the "middle finger analysis", here's an interesting fact about Galileo.

Astronomer Galileo's meticulously preserved middle finger can be seen today in Italy's Museo di Storia del Scienza. The famous astronomer's appendage was plucked from his dead body by a souvenir-seeking Anton Francesco Gori in 1737. Gori detached this prize while moving the body from an undignified storage closet to a nearby chapel. Isn't it fitting that Galileo is still giving 'the finger' to all those who doubted his proofs of Copernicus' theory that the sun was the center of the galaxy? (link)

★ Cheers!

Today, there is no reason for celebration. But, since I am making a Slovenian winter dish (red cabbage with mashed potatoes), I just opened a bottle of red wine, which made me think about the different ways of saying "cheers" in different languages.

In Slovenia, when we make a toast, we raise our glasses, look into each other's eyes and say: "Na zdravje!", which means "to health". Same thing in Hungary: "Egészségedre" (which means "to health"). In Italy, they say: "Salute!", in Spanish "Salud", in France à - santé; the Germans say "prost".

And so on and so forth. It s a bit ironic how in most languages, we are drinking alcohol and toast "to health". This must come from the fact that alcohol DOES have healhy attributes. It was used for health reasons in the past and still is. We all know that a glass of wine, or a pint of beer, or a sip of whiskey a day (not at once:)) actually are healthy , but most of the time, drinking is a social thing involving pouring down rivers of alcohol. Maybe for that reason, in Ireland they say "Guid forder!", which means GOOD LUCK:))).
In Israel, people raise their glases and toast to life: L'Chaim!. In Malasia, they do not toast, but simply give each other "permission" to drink "Minum!"(drink!).

The English "cheers" comes from Anglo-Norman chere, which meant "face". By the Middle English period, the word began to be used metaphorically as "mood" as in the expression on a face, and in the 20th century, the British began to use it as a toast, probably meaning "let the drink cheer you up!"

Well, I hope you enjoyed this short reasearch of toasting in different languages. If you happen to know where the German "prost" comes from, and what it literally means, do share it with us. We would like to know.

Cheers:)

A few funny language quotes

I personally believe we developed language because of our deep inner need to complain.
~Jane Wagner

Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands and goes to work.
~Carl Sandburg

It's a strange world of language in which skating on thin ice can get you into hot water.
~Franklin P. Jones

We have too many high sounding words and too few actions that correspond with them.
~Abigail Adams

A good catchword can obscure analysis for fifty years.
~Wendell L. Willkie

If you can speak three languages you're trilingual. If you can speak two languages you're bilingual. If you can speak only one language you're an American.
~Author Unknown (hahahahah)

Sometimes it's just a short swim from the shipwreck of your life to the island paradise of your dreams - assuming you don't drown in the metaphor.
~Robert Brault

Words signify man's refusal to accept the world as it is.
~Walter Kaufmann

It is a safe rule to apply that, when a mathematical or philosophical author writes with a misty profundity, he is talking nonsense.
~Alfred North Whitehead

Words want to be free!
~Author Unknown


(I found these here)

★ All the Language LOCOmotion ★

I am a language geek.

I think about languages,

translate them, 

question their meaning(s), fight with them, 

like them, hate them, listen to them, 

read them, write them, need them, 

don't need them, praise them, curse them, 

LOVE them, and I blog about them. 

Welcome to my language-thinking-blog. :) ★