Lifesmithing Progress Update #003 - The First Pillar
Character-driven philosophy on how language shapes reality
Introduction
Below is the first essay of the first concept card within the Banish Scrolling Digital Booster Pack. Check my last update for more information about the product. There’s a lot here that needs an explanation.
What’s a pillar of harmony?
Over the years I’ve compiled things I believe to be true about the world and commitments that are useful for navigating it. I define a pillar as the pairing of a belief with a commitment.
Harmony is a set of four simultaneous states of being: stability, intentionality, integrity, and mobility. Stability is having systems to reach a stable state, intentionality is having a vision you are actively pursuing, integrity is having commitments aligned to your values and beliefs, and mobility is having the capacity to pursue your vision.
Why is language first?
In Out of the Funk and Into Harmony I laid the groundwork for lifesmithing as providing a mental model to make your own keys to your own locks. Specific words with specific definitions are the tools in which those keys are created.
Commitments are the core concept within my theory. In The Architecture of Commitment I make the case that language is essential to our special ability to make commitments.
What’s with the code comments?
I’ve developed some lore around this writing. I’ll explain why shortly. The main body of text is written as the personal diary of a character called the “artificer.” This diary was discovered by another individual called “lifesmith prime.” The code comments are this second character’s commentary on the text.
I’ve done this for several reasons:
It softens the philosophy—I want this to be deep but not impenetrable.
It differentiates the product—I want to stand out in a crowded market.
It's more fun—I want to make it more enjoyable for me to work on.
I’ve heard that you should build products for your self. So that’s what I’m doing!
Pillar of Harmony #1 - Language
Language serves two functions.
Language compresses.
It simplifies the perception of reality. It sacrifices fidelity for practicality. It's a tool for reasoning about the world and our experience in it. Its absence would restrain our agency.
Language expresses.
It grants the navigation of possibility. It channels thought into intention. It's a tool to communicate to the world what could be and how we may get there. Its absence would restrain our aspiration.
/* The artificer defines expression as communicating about possibility, not reality. This highlights a core concept of the thoery: the interplay between reality and possibility. Reality is the system in which we live. Possibility is the set of all realities that we might obtain. A lifesmith's primary pursuit is navigating possibility—through thought and action. */Language destroys while it creates.
I must harness it and wield it carefully.
Language has limits. Consider one's own accord. Our lexicon has thousands of words with a unique conceptual scaffold created from our own lived experience. To believe that we represent reality and navigate possibility with any accuracy is absurd. We don't lie, but don't possess the truth.
/* Think of a time when you lacked a word to describe something and used another in its place. It felt wrong, like something was missing. It's a recognition that even within one's mind, the limits of language are clear. We inherited our words and symbols while building our own concepts to back them. It might be consistent, but consistency is not accuracy. */Multiply our imperfect compressions and expressions against the countless individuals that occupy reality. Billions of lexicons and scaffolds. Repeated encoding and decoding. An infinite constellation of miscommunication.
It's astounding that we've come this far.
/* Have you ever been in a discussion with multiple people from a different profession? After awhile, you notice they are using familiar words in different ways. It sounds like a different language—because it is. Everyone has a different language. */Anything that has ever been accomplished—good or evil, important or mundane—was manifested by language. Its power and its peril demands a constant reminder.
I believe language shapes reality. Language forms the boundaries of both perception and aspiration. It affects our understanding of what has happened, what will happen, and what can happen.
/* There is a double meaning here. Language both shapes our perception of reality and allows us to shape new realities through the navigation of possibility. */I commit to wield my lexicon. Language is a potent tool. Its ability to limit rivals its ability to liberate. It's our primary method of navigating possibility. It should be cultivated, developed, and wielded with care.
/* Consider the difference between telling your self you are "a procrastinator" versus "susceptible to procrastination" (a story about reality) or that you need to go to bed "early" versus "on time" (a story about possibility). Our words activate different pathways in our brain that affect our understanding of a situation. *//* It's not positive thinking. It's intentional thinking. */Reality awaits—it must be forged from possibility by language and its manifestations.
Feedback Requested
I’m looking for any and all feedback to my approach.
What stands out?
What is confusing?
What do you like?
What makes you bristle?
Feedback is fuel for the engine of change. Throw some coal my way!