A Thousand Pictures

“A picture is worth a thousand words, but a word is worth a thousand pictures,” (Lipton).

This statement sprung a revolution in my mind. It is amazing. I have never, ever thought of this before, and when I heard it in class I was amazed. I do not know why the simplicity of reversing an age-old statement boggles my mind so much, but it does.

I agree with the statement 100% and I have a new outlook on the power of language, not only language, but also interpretation. Look below at my table;

I interpreted the word “table” a certain way in order to produce that result. My interpretation is made up of my life experiences, exposure to media and tables, and my sense of language and communication. It truly amazes me thinking about how many different kinds of tables were drawn in class and what elements enabled the different interpretations.

It also amazes me how similar everyone’s tables must have been, how much the word table can influence our thoughts, even though it just a word. The meaning of the word table is actually nothing, but our minds give the word so much meaning and this meaning is common among many different cultures and peoples.