"It's All Bullshit"

By Wayne Brown



I have written a massive amount about this subject. I hope not to repeat what I've already said or what anyone would understand without wise words from me.  My problems with language as a representation of reality are discussed there and are hardly original. This post is about a few personal implications of this fact.

My dear departed dad said it best, with typical sensitivity: "It's all bullshit". If he had said it when I was 5 he could have saved me some trouble...

Some hints in the past ...

  • By simply stopping to use religious terminology, I broke the spell of Christianity
  • I have always felt that philosophy is "just words", as confirmed by Wittgenstein, Taoism
  • But the big picture eluded me...
    • "Religion" is impossible without extensive abuse of human language;
    • All "ideas", including the nutty ones, are made possible by language alone
    • Language "cheaters" and "gamers" are a pox on society 
    • The weaponization of language can be seen in virtue signaling, "me too", canceling, "stop the steal" and 1,000 other examples

BUT

  • Without language, we have no "Science" as we understand it and only the most primitive technology
  • Evolution has given us brains that devote a lot of space to language processing. Language is part of our species' survival "strategy". Language is clearly very useful.
  • The invention of writing turbocharges the power of language. Written ideas, for good or ill, become immortal. Extremely elaborate systems of "philosophy" become possible, as in "Western".  philosophy where an entire system can be referred to by a single name, such as Nietzsche, Marx, Christ, or Mohammed. 
  • The explosive growth of massively complex religions based on "sacred writings" could never be squeezed through the limitations of oral history. Without written dogma (and dogma "experts"), all of these "philosophies" would have been passing superstition.
Lately, my response to religious enthusiasts has been that it's all "just talk". The response has been universal bewilderment. What would your religion be without all this "sacred" mumbo jumbo and centuries of disagreement over it? 

Nothing.


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