Conversations For Transformation: Essays Inspired By The Ideas Of Werner Erhard

Conversations For Transformation

Essays By Laurence Platt

Inspired By The Ideas Of Werner Erhard

And More

Wordsmith

Piazza D'Angelo, Mill Valley, California, USA

February 15, 2011


"Words mean things, like they're numbers: if you add numbers together you get answers. If you add words together you get answers. If you add the wrong words together you get the wrong answers."
... 
"There are only two things in the world: nothing, and semantics."
... 
"You say I'm just playing with semantics? Listen: it's all  just semantics."
... Laurence Platt
This essay, Wordsmith, is the companion piece to
  1. Webmaster
  2. Poet Laureate III
  3. Gamechanger II
in that order.

It is also the ninth in an open group on Language:
  1. Last Word
  2. Speaking Of Freedom
  3. The Transformation Of The World
  4. Constituted In Language
  5. Zen Bland
  6. Source Of Zen Bland: Hand Grasps Itself?
  7. Linguistic Acts
  8. Language: The Scalpel Of Experience
  9. Wordsmith
  10. Source Quote
  11. Being And Acting Out-Here: Presence Of Self Revisited
  12. My Word In The Matter
  13. You Are What You Speak
  14. Residue Of Meaning
  15. The Effortless Breakthrough
  16. The World's Conversation
  17. Read To Us
  18. Everything You Say
  19. Breakfast With The Master IV: Language As Music
  20. Leading With My Word
  21. Language And Results
  22. No, It's What You Say  About It
  23. Located Inside Language
  24. Be A Good Day
  25. Words Are Like Numbers
  26. Law In The Universe II: An Inquiry Into Inquiring
in that order.


Transformation.

When you speak about it, that's not it. When you speak it, that's it.

I intend that statement to be neither paradoxical nor confusing, nor Zen-ish or even koan--ish. Really.

We speak a lot about  things. Witness our water cooler  chatter. Witness our party banter. Witness our Monday morning quarterbacking  after the weekend's big game. Witness our armchair psychology  assessments of people. Witness all the talking heads  on television news programs, on talk shows etc. It's not only that we speak a lot about  things. It's that we're also heavily invested  in what we speak about - and we're just as heavily invested in what others speak about. Although I vote on what's spoken about, although I express my opinions (some of which I'm passionate about) of what's spoken about, although I debate what's spoken about, I question whether the experience of wholeness, fullness, satisfaction, and completion ever comes about through speaking about anything!
Werner Erhard distinguishes one of two possible relationships speaking has with the world:

 1)  When the words I speak fit the world in which I already live (description, commentary, opinion, gossip  etc) it's a "word to world"  fit. When my speaking is a word to world fit ie when my words fit the world in which I already live, then I'm a machine ie then I'm simply reacting to what's going on.

 2)  When the world shows up  to fit the words I speak (assertion, bringing forth, promising, standing with, linguistic acts  etc), it's a "world to word"  fit. When my speaking is a world to word fit ie when the world shows up to fit my words, then I'm source ie then I'm god in my universe.

Listen: it's alright  to be god in your universe. If not you, then who? More to the point, there's nothing wrong with speaking about  things. There's nothing wrong with speaking in a word to world fit. If we didn't speak about  things, Life as we know it couldn't function. Rather, this is to draw the distinction between speaking about  something ... and speaking  something - in particular, when it comes to transformation.

When it comes to transformation, transformation isn't something which happens when you speak about  transformation. If you speak about  transformation, that's not transformation. Transformation is something you can only speak. Period.

Gee! I hope you get that ...

<aside>

There's an old adage which says "Those who know don't tell, and those who tell don't know.".

Please notice this is not  what I'm alluding to when I say "Transformation isn't something which happens when you speak about  transformation. If you speak about  transformation, that's not transformation. Transformation is something you can only speak.".

"Those who know don't tell, and those who tell don't know" and whether or not it says anything powerful  is a subject for another conversation on another occasion.

<un-aside>

Transformation, Werner distinguishes, is being in conversations for transformation. He further distinguishes when you're no longer in conversations for transformation then you're no longer transformed. That's interesting to me. Transformation, it could therefore be said, shows up as a function of speaking world to word. Once you get past what may seem like the awkwardness  of the grammar of that sentence, it's actually a pretty darn accurate statement of what transformation really  is, and of what's called for to live Life transformed.

As a goldsmith  makes jewelry in gold, as a blacksmith  creates objects from iron or steel by forging the metal, so a wordsmith  brings forth finely tuned experiences through the exact use of words. When you take on speaking transformation in a world to word fit, you effectively reinvent yourself as a wordsmith. For the wordsmith, transformation shows up entirely in the languaging of transformation. It's all in the semantics. And it's all  semantics.

The wordsmith can assemble and combine words which describe  an already always  existing world. The wordsmith can also assemble and combine words which create  a world. When the wordsmith assembles and combines words which create  a world rather than merely describing an already always existing world, the possibility of sourcing transformation  shows up.

You could say for the possibility of sourcing transformation to show up, I have to generate who I really am in language. Ironically, if I'm going to generate who I really am powerfully in language, I must be already grounded  in who I really am.


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