Language is the ultimate tool. Writing = improving at language. As such: writing = cool!
/By Duncan Anderson. To see all blogs click here.
Reading time:
Summary: 5 mins
Details: 10 mins
Summary:
US Declaration Of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
DA’s Declaration Of Intelligence: We hold these words to be self-evident, that words are our greatest gifts. That they are endowed with stupendous powers. Among these are documentation, communication, expression... and education :)
Words are inheritance from previous generations. Learn a new word, learn a new thought / emotion / idea / colour / sound / etc etc.
Without words do we have anything? Without words is all we have confusion?
IMO language is everything and words are the main expression of language. You think in words, not feelings that you then translate into words. Learn a new emotional word (eg schadenfreude), IMO learn a new emotion you can have!!!! For example, studies show that, all else equal, the bigger your emotional vocab the better your emotional health.
Jingle 1: the more words you have and the better you are at using words, the better you are at everything mental! That's mental man!
Don’t learn another language, learn the next level of ‘english’... can one ever be ‘fluent’ in english?
There are ~750,000 words in english up from 50,000 a millenia ago. And english is growing at a faster rate than ever before!
To be considered fluent at english you need… just 10,000 words! I don’t know about you but knowing ~1% of the words in english doesn’t sound like fluency to me.
On top of this language ain’t just words; it’s quotes, it’s models, it’s taxonomies, it’s analogies (see a fuller list below).
To give you an example: language > words.
Thoughts = words.
You can read a 100,000 word book (average book length) and not really remember anything about the book… or you can read a 10 word quote and it can change your life. So… the right 10 words > 100,000 average words :)!
“Words have magical power. They can bring either the greatest happiness or deepest despair; they can transfer knowledge from teacher to student; words enable the orator to sway his audience and dictate its decisions. Words are capable of arousing the strongest emotions and prompting all men's actions.” Sigmund Freud.
“The human tongue is a beast that few can master.” Unknown.
Let’s just say that you somehow knew 100% of all words, IMO that doesn’t necessarily make you good at language.
You need IMO hundreds of literary devices.
And then you need 1,000s of ideas.
OMG yes, the fun you can have with language will never end!
Jingle 2: I think english is unmasterable. IMO that makes the concept of language masterful. IMO language is the ultimate tool.
The more tools you have the more things you can build.
I think it’s possible to get thousands of times better at ‘english’.
While I thought I was fluent at english when I was 15, in hindsight what english (language) could do for me was <1% of what I can do now!
The best way I know to get better at anything is deliberate practice.
“Deliberate practice refers to a special type of practice that is purposeful and systematic. While regular practice might include mindless repetitions, deliberate practice requires focused attention and is conducted with the specific goal of improving performance.” James Clear
The best form of deliberate practice I know of for ‘language’? Writing an unstructured ~1,000 word blog a week (AKA what you are reading right now).
Playing with language and learning new language is some of the best fun I know of! Writing this blog is some of the best fun I know of.
You should do exercise for your body, IMO you should do exercise for your mind. IMO one should write a ~1,000 blog each week.
Jingle 3: I find writing to be so beautiful that at times I can’t… speak :)
IMO writing ~1,000 words a week will slowly lead you to be 1,000x better at language :).
I’m trying to improve my ‘language’ ability by becoming proficient in as many literary devices as possible. 3D knowledge requires 3D language? I’m trying to develop and popularise communicating in more than ‘just words’... writing in 3D to get ‘just desserts’.
I used to think that english was just words, maths was just equations and chemistry was where you drew visuals to represent molecules but you’d never draw a visual anywhere else!
Now I try to be proficient in as many literary devices as possible.
The trusty old Dreyfus Taxonomy:
L1: Novice
L2: Competent
L3: Proficient
L4: Expert
L5: Master
Let’s say ‘language’ has the following three areas:
1. Words
2. Non words (equations eg ‘pain + reflection = progress’, taxonomies like the Dreyfus Taxonomy, colour coding, etc etc)
3. Visuals (eg your body is limited, your mind is limitless, eg a 2x2 matrix, etc etc)
IMO 3D language is being able to use “1. Words”, “2. Non words” & “3. Visuals” to express anything you want!
This is what I try to do with the CloudStreaks blogs. Write in 3D, help move the ‘english language’ to using literary devices like equations, taxonomies, visualisations etc :). OMG SO MUCH FUN!
A couple of examples I really like are WaitButWhy The Story of Us & The ABC on COVID-19
5 years ago I’d rate myself as the following:
1. Words - L2: Competent
2. Non words - L0: Nada
3. Visuals - L0: Nada
Now I think I’m somewhere around here:
1. Words - L3: Proficient
2. Non words - L3: Proficient
3. Visuals - L3: Proficient
I’d say I’m wildly better at ‘english’ (or my ability to use language) than I was 5 years ago.
IMO language = problem identification
IMO language = problem solution
IMO language = communication
An analogy: IMO humanity is wildly better at ‘Physics’ than it was 200 years ago.
Society has created a huge amount of ‘Physics language’ vs 200 years ago. Eg relativity, quantum mechanics, string theory, electrons, etc etc.
This repository of ‘Physics language’ allows the next generation to identify, solve, and communicate physics problems that previous generations never could.
“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants” Isaac Newton
i.e. the hardware (physicists) isn’t getting any better but the software (the language used by physicists) is getting better.
IMO what has been done for Physics can and is being done for all areas of life.
Brain * No language = Nothing. Brain * Language = Anything you want!
Humans are biologically indifferent to 10,000 years ago. But what a human can do today is other-wordly vs even 100 years ago. IMO the key reason for this is because of ‘improved / levelled up language’. IMO improve your language abilities = improve your everything abilities.
We are trying at Edrolo to create ‘new education language’ and use it to create ‘new better education resources’. It is so much fun!
IMO everyone can add to ‘language’. IMO trying to add to language and the broader knowledge base is some of the best fun I know of!
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Details
Physical vs Mental Abilities - might used to be right, now it’s the mind that matters!
It used to be that 'might was right'. A human's value was determined by physical ability. eg by how well a sword could be swung or how many animals caught.
Now it’s ‘the mind that matters’. Things are moving to have a human's value be determined by mental ability. eg thought, eg how many words you have and how well you can use them.
What is fluency in english?
They say there are 750,000 words in English now and there were 50,000 words 1,000 years ago. English is regarded as the biggest and fastest growing language.
The level for being considered ‘fluent’ in a language is 10,000 words.
“At around 10,000 words in many languages, you've reached a near-native level of vocabulary, with the requisite words for talking about nearly any topic in detail. Furthermore, you recognize enough words in every utterance that you usually understand the unfamiliar ones from context.”
10,000 words is ~1% of the known words in English. That is somehow fluent?
IMO 10,000 might be fluent to be able to travel to a country with that language and *just* scrape by.
You know that frustrating feeling that happens when you don’t speak the language and can’t articulate yourself as you know you could in your native tongue? You are missing words and the ability to use them. That is what you were like as a 15 year old, you thought you could speak ‘english’ but in highsight you were… 15.
“Studies have shown that the average English native speaker knows about 20,000 words with university-educated people knowing around 40,000 words.” - link
10,000 to be fluent but when travelling being unable to articulate yourself except for the most basic things.
20,000 to be average today for english.
40,000 for the very educated apparently.
… this is also known as 5% of the known words!
Word taxonomy
Example 1: who are some word masters?
This is the first debate between Sam Harris and Jordan Peterson (both of whom I consider word masters).
Honestly, I don’t think I understood any of this debate the first time I watched. I literally had to stop and google a word every ~30 seconds. The word I had to google was normally the most pivotal word in the 30 seconds without which none of what they were saying made sense to me.
I’ve watched these series of debates between Harris and Peterson 4x times now, each time I somehow get massive amounts more. It’s like I’ve never watched them before! These debates, I adore ;)
1st time watching: literally don’t know the pivotal word every 30 seconds so none of the debate makes sense.
2nd time watching: I’ve got a one dimensional understanding of the pivotal words so that means I can start to see the arguments as they are being put forward.
3rd time watching: I now have a grounding in the arguments each side is putting forward so I can start to see how each person is pushing back and / or adding to what is being said. I’m not just spending 100% of my effort to try and keep up.
4th time watching: I now have a 3D understanding of key words and familiarity with arguments before hearing about them from Peterson & Harris, so I can start to build a bigger picture of what is being said in my head and maybe even form some of my own views on the topics being discussed.
Honestly… I can’t wait to watch this a 5th time. I’m saving it up for 6 months time :). I’ll break out the popcorn, sit back and enjoy :).
Example 2: judges reading emoji in court
I think most people would say that a Judge is a ‘word master’... a word master of ‘old english’ it appears.
“Does a heart emoji from a manager constitute sexual harassment?”
Does an emoji with Xs for eyes — also known as the "dizzy face emoji" — count as a threat?
I used to bemoan that you couldn’t have ‘emotion in text’. Eg I need a sarcastic font, I need a ‘this is killing me font’. It was so easy to write something in eg an email or text that got taken out of context and instead of giving someone a delight, you gave your relationship a blight!
In a super simple case, if I’m trying to make a joke in email I’ll stick a :) next to the joke to let people know I’m joking around. IMO totally changes the tone.
So effectively IMO: text + emoji = emotion in text.
I’ve found that using emoji in text can totally change the way what you write is received… and as such massively increase the aperture of what you can communicate.
I think the ability to use language is the most uncapped skill there is. You can get better at playing the violin, at playing chess, at maths, become a knee surgeon… IMO language use is the master skill, because it is the skill upon which all other skills are built.
The chair you are sitting on is ultimately the outcome of human thought in words / language.
The food you eat is ultimately the outcome of human thought in words / language.
The computer you are reading this on is ultimately the outcome of human thought in words / language.
The internet is ultimately the outcome of human thought in words / language.
Improving at language = improving at everything?
Language ain’t just words. Language = Words+
IMO there is ‘no such thing as intelligence' (many studies on this, I’ve also written about it eg here).
There being ‘no such thing as intelligence' is about ‘intelligence compounding’.
What I don’t think mental abilities progression looks like:
What I think mental abilities progression looks like:
If language is upstream of all mental output, then improving at language = levelling up mental abilities = upgrading intelligence.
*aside: IMO intelligence is a word imbued with much fixed mindset. Eg someone is born smart or dumb.
I don’t think someone is ‘born intelligent’, I think some people however have special mental abilities. I think their ‘special mental abilities’ are built through systematically upgrading their mind. What someone who is ‘intelligent’ does is not hard, it is the product of hard work!
Baby Elon couldn’t design rockets that go to Mars.
Baby Ada Lovelace (widely regarded as the inventor of computer programs) didn’t know what an algorithm was.
Baby Duncan was… infantile!
I think words are one component of language, but there are many other literary devices. Example of consecutive ‘s-curves’ for ‘written communication’:
S-Curve 1: using words alone
S-Curve 2: incorporating quotes
S-Curve 3: using analogies
S-Curve 4: use of juxtaposition (what something isn’t)
S-Curve 5: using colour highlighting for text
S-Curve 6: using equations, eg pain + reflection = progress
S-Curve 7: using taxonomies, eg L1: remember, L2: understand, L3: apply, L4: analyse, L5: evaluate, L6: create
S-Curve 8: using visual models like the a 2x2 or the ones further up this blog.
S-Curve 9: using humour
S-Curve 10: using multiple definitions to try explain a concept in 3D
Etc etc. seriously this list goes on and on and on… and that is before you are even using concepts like growth mindset inside of language. IMO it’s unlimited!
Aside: so much of the fun is finding new s-curves to surf. Super gnarly bro!
Writing is like sketching, you get a little better each time you do it.
Want to get 100x better at communication? IMO write a 1,000 word blog for 100 weeks in a row, at the end I think you’ll find that your language abilities are other worldly!
You should do physical exercise each week, IMO you should do mental exercise each week.
For me: Mental Exercise = writing an unstructured blog on a topic of your choosing using as many literary devices as you can.
For me: Mental Exercise = so so so SO much fun. Honestly I love writing these blogs.
See this blog for what I see ‘unstructured writing’ as.
3D Fluency: 1. Number of words one knows * 2. Literary devices * 3. Concepts * 4. The ability to use them
IMO knowledge compounds. How else can one explain that 200 years ago we didn’t have scalable electricity and now we are able to put things on mars?
They say humans are biologically indifferent vs humans 40,000 years ago.
Humans abilities today are other worldly even vs 40 years ago.
I don’t know about you, but I sure as hell think I can do more than I could 10 years ago. Frankly IMO what I think I could do 10 years ago is ~1% of what I think I can do now.
I honestly think the key way I’ve upgraded myself is through ‘levelling up my language ability’.
I honestly think that a rocket to Mars is the outcome of increased language ability (eg physics => transistors => code => design => manufacturing => rocket :) ).
A possible example of how language ability compounds.
This says it’s possible to be billions of times more capable with language. Do I think this is a reasonable conclusion? Yeah.
What humans can do now is beyond what humans a millennia ago thought gods could do.
I eat better than kings did 100 years ago… I don’t know how to cook.
We used to have to gather wood that had fallen off a tree for heat… now a human with a chainsaw can cut 25x more wood in a day than 1x humans with an axe and a saw… let alone how much wood could be chopped before axes and saws!
Humanity is going to colonise mars… we used to think the earth was flat.
Some people still do, and you could say this is a result of scientists failing to use language effectively enough to communicate ideas and the ‘flat-earthers’ failing to learn the language of science.
Infant mortality in hunter gatherer times was ~50%... IMO humans will eventually transcend biology and be able to live forever.
IMO these otherworldly improvements are the outcome of language levelling up!
Language = Mental Tools
A human with only hands might be able to dig a shallow hole.
A series of humans with tools can build a 100 story skyscraper.
A human without language can’t build any knowledge.
A human with epic new physics language can build rockets that go to mars.
A human with epic new education language can build an education system that graduates more humans that can make... new language.
Language = the tool that builds all other tools. Therefore language is the ultimate tool?
If you can create new ‘language’ you can create anything? I think it so yo!
If you only take away one thing...
IMO words and language are the best. For me they are the ultimate tool.
It’s possible that improving at language is improving at everything mental… and that’s mental!
The best deliberate practice I know to improve at language is unstructured writing for ~1,000 words a week.
Unstructured writing of ~1,000 words a week is also some of the most rewarding fun I know of. Do you have any idea how much fun writing this blog has been? THE BEST! (If you are interested from scratch this took me 3.0 hours to write. If I’d tried to write this 5 years ago it simply wouldn’t have been possible. IMO my words have leveled up hard, my literary devices have levelled up hard, the amount of concepts I know has levelled up hard. Yay!)
IMO you should do physical exercise each week. IMO you should do deliberate mental practice each week AKA unstructured writing of ~1,000 words each week.