Language and Meaning

Language is the carrier of meaning. A source of useful contemplation for me of late has been the possibility of communication by meanings alone, dispensing with the carrier. Not that that’s possible in this dimension, but it may be possible in the Beyond. The thought here is that the carrier actually influences that which it carries. There is Marshall McLuhan’s famous aphorism, The medium is the message. Supposing that we are awaiting the Dalai Lama. Here is this ornate pillared building and the crowd is on wide steps leading up to it, a wide boulevard below. And here comes the Dalai Lama—on a bicycle. The bicycle is his carrier. But suppose the Dalai Lama arrives in a long, sleek limousine. Three or four people stumble out first, not least the chauffeur, wearing a uniform. Finally the Lama himself clad in Tibetan robes. Yet another image. The Lama comes by helicopter—and the furious wind of his descent make people raise their hands to fend off the blast of air. The carrier modifies the meaning. — Abrupt shift. — For me the words “original sin” carry a very potent meaning. In many ways it is one of the most useful meanings for understanding at least human reality. But the words that carry it also carry extra baggage that causes many people to reject their meaning. We would agree on a whole lot more things if meanings came to us naked.