Symbols

Recently, I have been pondering about symbols and how humans create them and give them meaning. Language is symbolic and arbitrary. How did someone decide that a chair is a chair and not a lala? It is all arbitrary. Well, except onomatopoeia.

For most of us, the symbols of language come naturally. We hear the sounds in our language and from a few months old, we start to respond differently to speech than other sounds. As infants, we also respon differently to sounds in the native tongue than those of a foreign language. We then tune in even more and say our first words usually about 12 months. From that age, language development sky rockets until about 6 when most of language has been acquired. So, in 6 short years, people have a pretty good command of their language. Their abstract, arbitrary symbol set.

But then there are other symbols. These are also arbitrary as well, I think that is part of the meaning of it being a symbol. These, like language, are often cultural and vary in different places in the world. However, they still exist. What is it about humanity that we need these symbols? How did people decide that a ring symbolizes commitment between two people? The way to wear the ring may change in different cultures but the symbolism is still there. How did people decide that marriage is important? Why do humans create these extra meanings and ceremonies?

The other piece of this is how much people with communication difficulties miss. They may learn basics, but they often don't learn the subtlies of interactions. The delicate balance that is inate for most of us has to be taught and it is very difficult to teach all these unwritten rules for interactions and symbol sets.