There has been no greater influence on the shaping of human systems and time experience than language. Every individual inhabits a unique place and space, seeing and interpreting the universe in ways that no other can. Language is the transference of thought, our ever-evolving attempt to share information with others in order to better align on understandings. It is, and always has been, the foundation of progress in human societies. With that in mind, we explore the creation and adoption of new vocabulary and language and its role in our progression toward individual actualization.
All presently available languages are inherently limiting to the human experience. Each has evolved within the constraints of linear human time experience. All are influenced by the specific circumstances, communities, and cultures. Language is an attempt to capture and convey our internal infinities through the limited word systems our biological mouths can produce and is therefore inadequate for the task. The single truth and our time experience within the moment are most real in the absence of language. There may be a moment in the not-too-distant future where neural links will allow us to express ourselves without language, similar to the physic commune with expansive intelligence through high ritual. Until that day arrives, we must embrace the continuous perfecting of language in our journey toward self-actualization in the age of crisis.
Proactively developing our language and communication requires us to understand that when we attempt to convey and contextualize the moment, we flatten it. I’m reminded of daily walks with my partner and our infant child. In our neighborhood, we often observed people walking their dogs. Consider the difference between the adult observations and those of the infant. My partner and I understand the dog to be a four-legged omnivorous mammal that barks, pants, licks, and may serve a variety of purposes. Great companions, empathetic observers who love deeply in their own ways. The infant observes something radically different. It is confronted by this multidimensional being of information expressing itself through light, sound, and motion. Then it happens, “Dog. That is a dog.” Suddenly this mysterious vibration of life and energy is transformed into a word. The label covers the animal, acting as an anchor for future recall and association. It is necessary for the progress of communication but slightly sad in its robbing of the magic of the moment. By the time the child reaches age five, they inhabit a much more rigid universe framed by the languages available to them through their birth lottery. Language, therefore, is the primary architect of the human experience. Reality—what is observable within the immediate present—becomes secondary. It is a necessary process to develop cooperative individuals but doing so denies the child the knowledge that language is a biological technology for making the world what we want it to be.
Biology has encoded humanity with a method of connecting the dots between sound and context. We innately understand common syllables across languages.51 Words are constructs, various linguistic technologies humanity developed over time. For the majority of the human time experience, language was cultural and place-based. Specific languages reinforce specific ways of interpreting the universe. Language influences attention, memory, the perception of color,52 cooperative norms, technology, and so much more. When the individual communicates in a language, they inhabit a specific history.
Consider the English language greeting of “Hello. How are you?” Popular and common, it is an easy way to launch into conversation with friends and strangers alike. In Mandarin Chinese, a similarly popular greeting is to say “Chr bao^ le ma?” This loosely translates to English as “Have you eaten?” or “Are you full?”53 China’s history of struggling with famine influences expression. Beyond the words, we can observe that both the English and Chinese introductions express the same thing: concern for the well-being of another. To further illustrate this, we can point to another phrase. Imagine a friend tells you, “I’ve been hacked.” Today we all understand exactly what it means through the context of having our digital identity and assets compromised. Now imagine a friend sharing this news with you four hundred years ago. It would raise serious concern about their health and well-being.
Speaking a specific language doesn’t limit an individual’s capacity to understand the world, but it does filter our perception through specific frameworks of being. At the same time, the single truth ensures that languages continuously evolve. New words and phrases enter our awareness every year, many of which are spread quickly through memes. Our journey toward individual actualization embraces a more proactive approach to developing our language in alignment with our core values and knowledge of the universe.
Our experimentation with language roots itself in English. Not because English is inherently better suited for aligning ourselves with the single truth than other languages, but because it has already established planetary dominance. English is the common language of commerce, but its true staying power resides in its establishment as the foundational language of coding. Everyone on Earth writes at least some code in English, and to change that would be an immense and relatively pointless endeavor. Whether the individual has a preference or not, our inheritance of the immediate present provides no ideal alternatives other than English as our common planetary language.
We approach our exploration of how to best leverage language in our journey toward individual actualization from both the individual and collective perspectives. Consider how our imaginations create new information, the fabric of our universe. It is an incredible source of power and a method of expressing equity, restraint, and relation. The individual who possesses high awareness of the immediate present is able to speak language unburdened by the past, which is why we must be proactive in selecting what we do and do not explore with our words. We exercise restraint in the language we select for ourselves and others because we understand it to be creation. Our individual choice to embrace the single truth is as much a responsibility as it is a means of self-actualization in the age of crisis. Be mindful that your introspection remains productive; do not reinforce what you seek to abandon.
Individual actualization is a process of embracing new systems of meaning and value in alignment with the single truth and the relational universe. Our core value of relation reminds us that individual divinity is equally shared among all others. Therefore, we practice restraint in the direction of our focus and energy. Practicing the core values that align us with the single truth includes a mindful and meaningful approach to communication with others. Do not exaggerate, mislead, or seek to better yourself through the belittlement of others. As Don Miguel Ruiz wrote, “Be impeccable with your word.” Speak plainly and directly but with intent and compassion. Be mindful not to carry burdens from past moments into the immediate present. Be wary of applying your perception to the whole. Exercise awareness to recognize inconsistency and courage to redirect focus and energy, both for ourselves and others. Through small rituals that strengthen our core values, we develop a higher awareness of the relationship between our powers of creation and language, inhabiting a deep empathy when engaging with the other. This reciprocity creates a frictionless spirit of communication that betters both individual and collective.
We may also decide to proactively introduce new words into English from other languages. Language is no longer bound to geographic boundaries, and all of us possess the ability to connect sound to context. We could easily port existing words that express different contexts and emotions from other languages into English, and the collective will continue to meme new words into existence. Our continuous expanding of and experimenting with English transforms us. Perhaps in the not-too-distant future, we will rename the language “Earth common,” so as to remove its connection from any single historical reference. Language belongs to all of us, and until we develop the ability to communicate telepathically, it is our best tool for conveying infinity.
