Language, Life, and the Power of the Human Mind

If priority were given to one part of the body, it would have to be the brain. Everything you do (running, jumping, singing, working, playing, etc.), everything you think (ideas, thoughts, concepts, beliefs etc.), and everything you feel (pain, anger, love joy, etc.) is controlled by your brain. It is the center of the central nervous system, connected to every part of your body. It is the lens through which you perceive the world around you, the sponge through which you absorb information, and the processor that makes it all make sense.

As the cliché goes, “whatever the mind can believe, it can achieve.” So much potential is tucked behind our foreheads, in fact, that American writer James Lane Allen (1849-1925) declared, “You cannot escape the results of your thoughts. Whatever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain or rise with your thoughts, your vision, your ideal.” In other words, the quality and success of our lives is largely determined by what we allow to fill the space between our ears-regardless of our circumstance, race, wealth, sex, prior accomplishments or other external influences. Although this concept is very easy to teach and to adopt, it can be quite difficult to gauge how well we are applying it in our every-day lives. Can the quality of our intangible thoughts and abstract ideas be tested, checked, weighed or calculated? Despite the seeming impossibility of this task, there is one way to measure which does just that: examining our use of language.

Language is to thinking what a mirror is to reflection. Without a mirror how could anyone know what he or she looks like; likewise, without language how could the workings of the human-mind ever be known? Language reflects thoughts, desires, feelings, and ideas from the mind into the real world, helping what was once intangible and abstract become tangible and concrete. It is the means by which dreams and ideals, loves and fears, plans and desires are conveyed from one person to another. It is the channel through which the power and potential of the human mind can pour. In essence, language is the essence of human function.

So, what is it with this essence that is so essential to our lives? How does our ability to communicate impact our lives and the world around us? Consider some examples.

Gutenberg

Several centuries after the birth of Christ, many people lived in highly-illiterate times we now call the Dark Ages. Because writing was a laborious and time-consuming task, reading was a privilege reserved for nobles and priests who then shared their knowledge with the rest of the people-people who, without education, led simple, impoverished lives. Then came Gutenberg and his printing press. In the mid-1400s Johannes Gutenberg invented the moveable-type printing press, making mass production of literature practical, and soon books such as the Bible were available to the common folk. Suddenly, from poor, simple, ignorant Western Europe came an explosion of philosophers, scientists, explorers, writers, and musicians. It was called the “Enlightenment” and the “Great Awakening” as floods of brilliance washed over the land. The simple invention of the printing press-and the subsequent availability of written language-stimulated the human mind to heights which had been unreachable for centuries.