I-GOT-PROSE

The last time I made an intellectual mistake, was the last time I forgot to put myself into someone else’s shoes, not for just one unique incident, but actually throughout the course of my day and my experiences, with mistakes occurring with family, friends, the general public, and basically anyone I would encounter. I feel its my error in ‘thinking too much’ about things, or at them, and not just ‘experiencing them’ or looking Through them.

Admittedly, with my ex-girlfriend especially, there would be times, usually in argument, that I would say things just to put a spin on it and it would end up coming out totally wrong, and usually getting a very confused reaction, or just more anger. That isn’t the best example either, but another example would be when speaking publicly, especially in class sometimes, people are so caught up in the moment and with what they are trying to say, that sometimes the word choices that they come up with, or the phrasing, just isn’t right, or ‘Thought-out’, because they were saying one thing and meaning another.

The second example would be further amplified by someone who doesn’t have a firm grasp on a new language, especially one as intricate as English, where one word can have several meanings, or can fit into several contexts. Stepping into those people’s shoes is something that I have to do all the time (and admittedly remind myself, too), and perhaps if people generally would do this, then we might actually begin to really understand each other and listen more intently. The reason for why we even do this in the first place, is something that can be lectured and debated for hours, but our inability to step into other people’s shoes has to do with social, psychological, and even factors that are within our sub-conscious, which are all affected by the News we take in and our daily encounters and ‘cultures’ that we tap into.

The misuse of language would affect an audience in a number of ways. Firstly, you can, and you have to try really hard, or say something really off the wall, but you can actually lose a significant amount of credibility as to the way people ‘percieve you’. Another consequence would be confusion, or just something that halts the flow of whatever was being said to the audience (audience being from one person to 1 million people), think of those moments on television where a record scratches and everyone goes silent, something like that, you might even get a “What the F*ck?” out of someone. Thirdly, it can be funny, this is always the best way to ‘fall’, if you will, and can brighten up the mood, and even someone’s day, but misusing language in a way that can engage your audience is a real treat, especially when done intentionally.

This same misunderstanding has plagued our world since the beginning of time. This isn’t something that just began with the industrialized era, or our ‘modern’ era. It has existed since we’ve had individual languages and not just one universal one, except for music, though even then that is spoken differently throughout the world as well. It truly is our failure to stop, think, and put ourselves into the other persons shoes, or the other groups, or the other cultures shoes and even for a second, try and see things the way they would. Admittedly, I fail at this, but I don’t neglect it, and I try my hardest to do it, especially when taking in the news, or going to a new city or public location, where I am to encounter new individuals.