Language and the Enormity of Experience

The question initially provoked a simple response from me. I thought surely language, if wielded by an experienced enough author, could capture and contain the enormity of experience. That is why we have descriptors, tropes and schemes to paint a mental image and inspire the sensations that experience provides. Upon more thoughtful deliberation however, I realized that experience, like the word suggests, requires first-hand contact. On the contrary, language is inherently limited by the cultures, truths and notions held by its creators.

At the risk of sounding cliché, I have decided to resort to the example of love. Maybe it is such a basal emotion that everyone feels, but I am certain that all who have experienced love whether from family or from their partner can attest to the oft indescribable feelings it stirs in them. Language attempts to capture all of it, but often falls short of describing the subtle intricacies that you experience when you are in love. Granted, language can only go so far as to give us a vague idea of what the experience truly is; it is much like a sign post, pointing you in the right direction and clueing you in on what to expect, but never quite completely capturing the experience itself. Being at the scene of it all does not only create a visual or auditory image, it stirs your very soul.

Take skydiving for example. It is not really that hard to imagine how such an event would unfold, given that we have seen much of it on the television. Using language however might bring to mind the whole sensation of free falling, the wind rushing past you as you hurtle toward what would be certain doom, if not for the chute in your backpack. You notice how small everything is from up above, and the fear that might grip you. Stand in the doorway of a plane before taking that first step however, and it will be a totally different thing altogether. Language might try to describe the sensation to you, but you will definitely see skydiving in a whole new light once you experience it yourself. Like many always say, “you have to try it yourself because I cannot even begin to describe it to you.” Our mind and capacity for thought is very much bounded by our experiences; if we never truly experience it, we might fool ourselves into thinking that we understand the sensation, but it never is the case.

As a speaker of English, Mandarin and some Asian dialects, I have discovered how the very nature of language can limit the experiences it can accurately convey. In Mandarin, idioms which consist of 4 characters are commonly used to convey complex ideas quickly and intuitively. However, the English language is unable to replicate such phrases, and must resort to breaking down an idea into its components. On the contrary, there exist words in the English language that Mandarin does not have any characters for, many of which are more complex emotions. Thus, I have come to realized that language can sometimes be intrinsically limited by its origins and may not be able to convey certain ideas, let alone experiences. They are an integral part of life, possessing the ability to change and shake us to our core, whilst language is merely a tool that complements it, priming us on what to expect, but never quite capturing the enormity of it.