Okay, I am the first
to admit that my mind wanders down some interestingly obscure roads
on occasion. Perhaps I have just had too much time on my hands
lately, or no creative outlet . . . whatever the reason, I’d like
you to think about this with me.
No matter where in
the world we were born, how well educated we are, or what our
environmental existence is, we all have two things in common:
language and math. I know that for many of us, these two things are
a bane to our existence. While I acknowledge to being the
grammar/spelling police, math is a real pain in the backside for me.
I remember algebra (or not), geometry (which did make a modicum of
sense and I will tell you why later), and then in college it was
statistics. I tried, I really did. But there was no way I could
make any sense of it, nor could I find a reason to do so other than
pass the class.
Have you really
thought about it? Everyone can communicate with someone else. How
did we learn to associate sounds with meaning? How did we come to
string sounds together to relate ideas? And for some, these sounds
and ideas become music. For those who can’t speak, there is an
intricate movement of the hands to impart their thoughts and ideas to
others. Then at some point, these sounds were given a physical
shape (letters). And grouping those shapes gave us words, and
stringing together words and thoughts gave us the ability to
communicate. To put icing on the cake, there are approximately 6,500
languages in the world. It was not something that was born in just
one spot and spread. Now putting two people in a room who speak
different languages is a challenge, but eventually we learn to
understand each other. Having lived in a Spanish speaking area, it
is amazing how much you learn without even realizing it.
Given we have
language, we now also have the written word. Think about reading for
a minute. It is what you are doing right now. How do you know what
I am saying? How are these characters revealing to you what is on
the page. While not all people have a written word, they all have
ways of passing down history and important events to the next
generation. It maybe through story telling, or song . . . but it is
there. And the written word can be interpreted differently. My
husband is a word reader. He reads every word on the page and thus
understands the story. I am a picture reader. I never remember
seeing a word on the page, but I have a visual image of what was
said. It is like watching a movie. Therefore, details are important
to me, they enhance the picture. Trying to read directions is
another matter….there is no picture and I have to revert to word
for word and it becomes a trial to comprehend it. This is why
geometry made a bit of sense…..it had shapes or pictures.
Now math. Math
follows the same path as language but with a more obscure nature. We
all understand the concept of counting even if we don’t have
numbers with which to do it. Children understand “you have more
than me” at a very early age. How do they know? They can’t
count. So we have the ability to understand the concept no matter
how obscure. Okay, I get addition, subtraction, multiplication,
division . . . well, as long as it isn’t too complicated. And I
even see a use for it. But if it goes beyond that...where they add
letters and symbols to the numbers, well you may as well speak to me
in an extremely foreign language. Numbers are a very abstract idea.
To assign an amount to a certain shape and then “tweek” it a bit
to make it bigger or smaller, is strange. I learned to tell time
with Roman Numerals, now that is really obscure! One through four
make sense, from there it goes down hill.
And then we can
throw music into the mix of language. I really tried to learn music,
but it just wasn’t there. For many people it is “built in” to
their very being. It speaks to them in profound ways . . .
emotionally, spiritually, linguistically. And music is also common
to all people. How does this happen? Yes, we all have the ability
to learn but there is a difference between copying some else’s
actions and understanding a huge number of complex signs and making
them actually communicate a universal message.
Now I understand
there are “number” people and there are “word” people in this world and
never the twain shall meet. My business partner will spend hours,
days, weeks balancing the books to a penny. And she loves it. I
have not balanced a checkbook for 50 years (nor do I intend to begin
now). I know some of you are gasping . . . but I have survived. On
the other hand, I “lose it” when I see a spelling/grammar mistake
in a publication, on a sign or other public place. To many people it
doesn’t matter, for me it is a high blood pressure attack.
So where am I going
with this? Nowhere. This blog is the result of too much time on my
hands, no where to go, and nothing constructive to do. The world may
have shut down, but my mind has gone into overdrive. However, it is food for
thought.
Just Writin’ on
the River Road
