I agree with you and I think it's partly the nature of language. Every time we choose a word, we label something. If I want to refer to someone I know, I need to pick between expressions like "colleague", "friend" or just "someone I work with". In reality, it could be a mixture, but language doesn't take account of the changing nature of our relationship (e.g. "a colleague in the process of becoming a friend" would sound ridiculous) This is just one example for the many nuances that are missing in language.
In a book I read, two people with very different backgrounds were also struggling to understand each other. The author analyzed these differences and came up with a "dictionary of misunderstood words" to explain what things like skyscrapers, which one loved and the other hated, meant to them, respectively. IMO really getting to know someone or even yourself can be quite a long process.
I guess that's why it's so great to meet someone who is "on the same wavelength", when conversation flows easy and you just get each other effortlessly, most of the time.
IIN to find that humans cannot fully communicate with each other?
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I agree with you and I think it's partly the nature of language. Every time we choose a word, we label something. If I want to refer to someone I know, I need to pick between expressions like "colleague", "friend" or just "someone I work with". In reality, it could be a mixture, but language doesn't take account of the changing nature of our relationship (e.g. "a colleague in the process of becoming a friend" would sound ridiculous) This is just one example for the many nuances that are missing in language.
In a book I read, two people with very different backgrounds were also struggling to understand each other. The author analyzed these differences and came up with a "dictionary of misunderstood words" to explain what things like skyscrapers, which one loved and the other hated, meant to them, respectively. IMO really getting to know someone or even yourself can be quite a long process.
I guess that's why it's so great to meet someone who is "on the same wavelength", when conversation flows easy and you just get each other effortlessly, most of the time.