Nihilism

“What in philosophy is often referred to as nihilism or pessimism. That there might not be a purpose to things or to your life or to our existence or to the cosmos. And this all might be purely arbitrary, an accident.” Nihilism is skepticism about if anything in the world has a real existence. Nihilism is very relevant in the present time, with how many movies and books and other forms of media are displaying dystopian societies. It’s like the different media outlets are saying that we’re here but really there’s no point because everything is just going to fall apart. People have also become numb to the idea of everything falling apart and so they just become pessimists. Society has become used to the idea that nothing has purpose and dystopian aspects of society are already present and with the continuation of all the dystopian societies being pushes through different media outlets, people will soon become completely oblivious to life and what is going on around them. News channels also have become very pessimistic, mostly just broadcasting the terrible things that are going on around the world and spending little to no time discussing things that are good that has happened. People nowadays seem to focus on the negative aspects of life and everything that is going wrong, people have a much more pessimistic view of the world and of the people who live on this planet. This is all because of what the media is producing for us.

Loss of Language-Why does it matter

The loss of language can have great consequences but also free you from the barriers of its self. When Dr. Jill Taylor told her story of her stroke she identified how everything around us becomes free to our interpretation instead of the set ideas that we have made of them. She describes how she couldn’t determine the difference between things, including her own body. She tells us about here euphoric sensation when she lost language and how she could be or do anything when she was in it. To me it is a scary thought, losing language she brings up at the end what would you choose, and to me I would have to keep my language out of the fear that I would go insane without it. While in “Meditation in Linguistics”, Roberts Hass talks about how when you add to an idea or add descriptiveness you, “that each particular erases the luminous clarity of a general idea”. Which I can understand, we all come across situations in which something is way over complicated, but I believe being as descriptive as possible can help create a more understandable picture of whatever you are describing. By understanding these ideas we can know how to better use language, by adding this sentence do I lower the quality of the overall idea? Or Maybe thinking with a less ridged thought process to see what we usually do not.

A Loss of Words

Sometimes a loss of words can be our key to happiness. Dr. Jill Taylor talks about her stroke and how her hemorrhage caused her brain to go completely silent. In her speech she talks about how she felt peacefulness, and euphoria when her mind was silent. She lost her way to talk, think, and just plain out function as a human being. She was in what she called “La La Land” and couldn’t think of anything but how extraordinary everything really was. She was at peace in that moment. She said, “I felt like a genie just liberated from her bottle,” like she had just been released from everything stressful, or harmful and was just let free. She used this comparison to show us how she felt, like she was just let go in a world of silent beauty. She couldn’t speak or think words but was overflowing with happiness in that moment. Just as Dr. Jill Taylor, Robert Hass made up the silence of words into this little place of happiness. In “Meditation at Lagunitas,” Hass says, “There are moments when the body is as numinous as words, days that are the good flesh continuing,” telling us about how amazing the body is and how being in the presence of your own body is better than what you could put into words. He tells us how he enjoyed things that were wordless and how he saw pure beauty in that silence. Overall, Taylor and Hass are showing us how beautiful things can be without words and how life doesn’t always revolve around thinking or talking. Life can be amazing when you soak in its silence as beauty.

So what? To when language fails.

Bliss at the expense of language failing is important because of what it exposes us to. Dr. Jill Taylor expresses this in sharing her experience of having a stroke and the left hemisphere of her brain becoming silent. She emphasizes the difference in the brain hemispheres by “personalities.” In being so, the right hemisphere is the “we” personality, while the left is the “I”. The right hemisphere of her brain basically became the center of her consciousness when She had lost all speech, logic and motor skills. Surprisingly, this brought her to be thoroughly at peace. She stresses how the silence her right hemisphere brought her was the key to Nirvana. The loss of language was important because it created a euphoric sense of peace that should be experienced by all beings. If everyone had a chance to live this phenomenon of complete silence provided by only the right hemisphere, we would ultimately become one. In saying so, as human beings, we would be able to unite and altogether cooperate. To Dr. Jill Taylor, this vast and utter silence is the key to world peace, to world happiness and everything that could possibly come in between. In the poem, “Mediation at Lagunitas,” the loss of language is made up for in physical expression, in emotion and feeling. Robert Hass writes, “There are moments when the body is as numinous as words, days that are the good flesh continuing.”  It is important for language to be lost sometimes because words cannot always express what needs to be “said.” Ultimately, it can be determined that bliss can only be found in an absence of words.

comparing claims

In my opinion I feel like Anzaldua did a better job providing her claim, because America is known for its diversity and denying a language can be considered equivalent to denying a culture itself. For example, she says that she would get disciplined at recess for talking Spanish. That can put shame on someone and make them hesitant to freely speak the language they want. I feel like it is not right for foreigners to feel pressured in only speaking their language in secret. Part of having living in such a diverse country is being able to proudly express yourself. I also speak a different language so I can sort of feel where she is coming from. In addition my brothers and I mix Swahili and English together to make one language like she stated that she does with “Spanglish”. On the contrary, McWhorter says “Languages itself does not correspond to the particulars of a culture”, however I believe language is a big part of culture because it distinguishes you from any other group. I also agree that language splits into two groups like saying “diss-kussting” or “dizz-gusting” over time that can form different types of dialect as well as another culture being born. All in all I believe that it goes against the first amendment (freedom of speech) whenever a language is denied to any one person or a group of people.

Cultures and Free Speech

I believe Anzaldua did a better job proving her claim than McWhorter because in my opinion, living in America as a Hispanic gives better proof on how Spanish speakers feel about being ridiculed in to blending your culture with another. I believe and agree that denying a group's language is against the first amendment because it restricts a citizen's way of life and how they want to talk. Foreigners who move to America shouldn't feel that they have to change their culture or language, if they did they might start to feel unhappy and homesick. Anzaldua explains that having certain food, smells, and hearing familiar sounds make her more comfortable and at home. If everyone spoke English yes, it could be a lot more convenient for the world to communicate to each other but, it would erase the beauty of other cultures around the world. McWhorter says that when people grow up with indigenous languages and migrate to a place with a more globally dominant language they tend to not speak their indigenous language any more which leads to language death. People should be welcomed to live the way they want to live. If people feel that they need to change the way they talk then people's cultural identities diminish. Anzaldua lived through people telling her that she can't speak the way she wants to, such as her experiences in school but she stood up what she believed in and showed that you should be proud of where you are from and recognize who you are.

Coming together

From the reading, I believe Anzaldua does a better job in her claims about having to deny their culture and upbringings to fit in with those around her. This country fought hard to gain their freedom and believes that everyone has the opportunity to express their opinions and that includes practicing their culture. She describes that being Mexican is a state out soul, not one of mind”.  Regarding to John McWhorter, yes languages come together and become one so another culture arises but where is the originality? One's culture should be able to prevail for many years and once this happens that culture gets lost if it merges and becomes a new one. No one should feel that their culture is suppressed to look good in front of others. His main point is that when new cultures collide so do languages and that causes languages to be lost along the way. Part of having your own culture helps others appreciate and respect so that it stays alive. Anzaldua had pride in her roots and kept in mind that there were both great cultures. She did not let other bring her ideas down she instead appreciated it and spoke up she knew she had the right to do so since this country’s goal is to be open to everyone’s ideas. Both these people wanted their cultures to be recognized and discussed how cultures are constantly changing. Anyone can fight for what they believe is right not just these two individuals, we live in a nation that protects everyone’s right regardless of what background they have.