The Power of Words - By Paull Young
Words these days still can be as meaningful as the words of ancient Egyptians even though the words are more accessible to the masses these days. The different thing is that not all of the words these days are meaningful, while all of the Ancient Egyptians’ are meaningful.
We do not have to think far back. If we recall 20 years ago, writing was a very formal, effort-needed, and time-consuming action. Even for a personal letter, people put some amount of time into finishing one decent piece of writing. (I’m sure they read it more than twice after they finished writing.) People do not usually write on a daily basis and there was a very specific, either professional or personal, purpose and occasion to write.
Since communication tools have evolved especially after the Internet was invented, writing has become a very casual and everyday action just like talking. Writing e-mails, blogging, and even posting a short comment on the Internet are just casual extensions of talking. Even though the format is writing, it is just like having a small talk with your friends or family. It does not have to be one logical concept, a grammatically perfect paragraph, or even a complete sentence.
However, that does not mean that those words are not meaningful. It is just harder than before to select trust-worthy words since there are massive amounts of words on the Internet. Moreover, the Internet has become an open place of evolving public opinion.
Maybe single words themselves are not very meaningful these days, but those words are pieces of public opinion. We can figure out the big picture by collecting these little pieces. Single words may be less valuable than the words of ancient Egyptians, but they are still worth looking at because these words represent what the public thinks about a certain topic at a certain time.
Some may argue that the words from the general public are not as important as the words from people who have social and political power. However, in my opinion, what the public says and thinks is equally important. For example, all elected officials are supposed to work for their citizens and citizens are the ones who can truly affect them. Besides, of course, people exist before a nation or government does, not the other way around.
Imagine that you have a tape recorder that record what many of the ancient Egyptians said. Do you think that tape is not meaningful because the words come from mere citizens? Do you think the words from their mouth are insignificant because they are presented as casual talk rather than sophisticated writing?
Don’t you think those words could be a raw but precious form of evidence for public opinion?
Words these days still can be as meaningful as the words of ancient Egyptians even though the words are more accessible to the masses these days. The different thing is that not all of the words these days are meaningful, while all of the Ancient Egyptians’ are meaningful.
We do not have to think far back. If we recall 20 years ago, writing was a very formal, effort-needed, and time-consuming action. Even for a personal letter, people put some amount of time into finishing one decent piece of writing. (I’m sure they read it more than twice after they finished writing.) People do not usually write on a daily basis and there was a very specific, either professional or personal, purpose and occasion to write.
Since communication tools have evolved especially after the Internet was invented, writing has become a very casual and everyday action just like talking. Writing e-mails, blogging, and even posting a short comment on the Internet are just casual extensions of talking. Even though the format is writing, it is just like having a small talk with your friends or family. It does not have to be one logical concept, a grammatically perfect paragraph, or even a complete sentence.
However, that does not mean that those words are not meaningful. It is just harder than before to select trust-worthy words since there are massive amounts of words on the Internet. Moreover, the Internet has become an open place of evolving public opinion.
Maybe single words themselves are not very meaningful these days, but those words are pieces of public opinion. We can figure out the big picture by collecting these little pieces. Single words may be less valuable than the words of ancient Egyptians, but they are still worth looking at because these words represent what the public thinks about a certain topic at a certain time.
Some may argue that the words from the general public are not as important as the words from people who have social and political power. However, in my opinion, what the public says and thinks is equally important. For example, all elected officials are supposed to work for their citizens and citizens are the ones who can truly affect them. Besides, of course, people exist before a nation or government does, not the other way around.
Imagine that you have a tape recorder that record what many of the ancient Egyptians said. Do you think that tape is not meaningful because the words come from mere citizens? Do you think the words from their mouth are insignificant because they are presented as casual talk rather than sophisticated writing?
Don’t you think those words could be a raw but precious form of evidence for public opinion?
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