The Things We Say

I am always curious about language, especially the logical extrapolations of statements people make. How we choose the words we speak or write is so imperative to how we are understood, and for being one who is so critical of how words are used, often, I am really quite terrible at expressing my own thoughts. One thing I am plagued with in life is my insufferably incredulous nature, especially about statements seemingly innocent at the surface that seem to claim a great virtue or evil or edge on truth. This is not just in regards to religion or philosophical topics, but in regards to myriad topics.

In the real world we really don't have the time to thoroughly think about the statements we make in great depths, and I don't really think that one can hold this human fault or shortcoming against anybody. But what if someone asks you the question you hadn't thought of in regards to your statement? When I ask questions which I too often do, most people just think I am an ass or "great, here goes Paul again". One friend of mine asked if I got some pleasure out of watching people squirm when I ask these questions. My response was no. My goal is to more fully understand the world so I can become a richer spirit that has at its worst attempted to step outside itself, not so I can squash the spirit of others. Although this is my goal the outcome is usually one of nausea and generalized anxiety.

I can honestly say, also, that my motive in my gazillion questions is to try to open windows for people to step outside themselves or their context to view the world. For some this might seem an admirable thing; for others, in a way, this is arrogant or comes off as such, I suppose, as it assumes that I have a view that no one else does. That is not my goal.

One of my favorite such statements I referred to in the first paragraph is this or something to this effect: "the statement or claim that no person can claim to know an absolute truth is itself a statement of absolute truth thus a statement that disproves itself". Of course, if the statement disproves itself, it proves its thesis.

Another statement, that I find more relative to our lives today at least in the U.S., is the statement "these people have died for our freedom". I have always wondered if those who make this statement realize the complexity of such a statement in regards to the statement itself and the context in which it is made.

I would love to hear comments on what this statement means to anyone who reads this.