I was most impressed by the introduction to this video. It begins by showing an average city and zooms in on all their signs and posters. Then an old man appears in a park talking about how letters are used in daily life. After being partially enticed by the thought of the numerous uses of letters, at 1:02 he states, “Our lives are ruled by words” and then his name appears. That moment was more climactic and shocking than i thought a 1970s video about the alphabet could ever be. he then states “words made up by those 26 symbols, which are the letters of our alphabet” to demonstrate how all of the uses of words in daily life he just stated are all symbolized through only 26 letters.
What tangible evidence for writing as power. Everything, especially in English, is represented in language, which is in turn composed of only 26 characters.
I’m reading this one book where one Portugese aristocrat/philosopher talks about how he is so sick and tired of some words being used over and over again. To quote the book, “They’re so horribly frayed and threadbare, these words, worn out by being used millions of times. Do they still have any meaning? Naturally, the exchange of words functions, people act on them, they laugh and cry, they go left or right, the waiter brings the coffee or tea. But that’s not what I want to ask. The question is, Are they still an expression of thoughts? or only effective sounds that drive people here and there because the worn grooves of babble incessantly flash?” That quote stood out to me so much when I read my book, and this blog post reminds me of it. Do we really think about the words that we use, or do we just use them as functions instead of expressions of thoughts?
I am still amazed at the capacities of our brains. Letters are differently shaped lines and a sequence of letters and then words conveys meaning that many people understand. Yes, our lives are ruled by words, but the fact that our brains can recognize and process these words from simple shapes is really cool.
When I watching the video. I realized that I was distracted and missed the opening portion. Thanks for bringing my attention to such an interesting opening. In the 1970s people were probably in awe of this production. Sometimes I forget to fully appreciate works, such as this film, in the the correct context.