The vocabulary one uses reflects the world in which they dwell.

Subtitle
To read the hierarchy of existence from everyday language

Introduction | What are people talking about?

People live in the world through words.

I'm hungry.
I'm sleepy.
I'm annoyed.
I like it.
I have work.
I have responsibilities.
What is freedom?
What is love?
What is death?

These are all words.

However, even with the same words, the world they point to is not the same.

When one says "food," they are in the world of the body.
When one says "annoyed," they are in the world of emotion.
When one says "boss," they are in the world of relationships.
When one says "contract," they are in the world of institutions.
When one says "meaning," they are rising into the world of abstraction.

In other words, vocabulary is not merely a tool.

Which world is that person currently submerged in?
From which world are they viewing the world?
At what height are they reading reality?

That is what permeates their vocabulary.

In this article, I would like to consider vocabulary not as a "unit for conveying meaning," but as something that reflects the world hierarchy in which a human dwells.

Chapter 1 | Words indicate one's place, not just meaning

Usually, it is thought that words are meant to convey meaning.

If you say "water," it points to water.
If you say "work," it points to work.
If you say "love," it points to love.

But is that really the case?

Even with the same word "water," the water spoken of by a thirsty person, a chemist, and a poet is different.

To a thirsty person, water is survival.
To a chemist, water is a substance.
To a poet, water is a metaphor.

Even with the same vocabulary, the weight of the word changes depending on which world it is uttered from.

Words are flat when they are in a dictionary.

However, the moment they leave a human's mouth, they become three-dimensional.

That is because they are uttered while carrying that person's body, emotions, relationships, institutions, and thoughts.

Therefore, reading vocabulary is not about reading the meaning of words.

It is about seeing from which layer that word emerged.

Chapter 2 | The five layers of world perception

Human vocabulary can be broadly divided into five layers.

The first layer is instinct.

Food, sleepy, sluggish, painful, hot, cold, tired, delicious, disgusting.

Here, humans are first in the world as bodies.

In this layer, the world appears as "pleasant or unpleasant."
I want to eat. I want to sleep. I want to escape. I want to be comfortable.
This is the vocabulary that most straightforwardly shows that humans are animals.

The second layer is emotion.

Happy, sad, annoyed, like, dislike, anxious, scared, exhausted, relieved.

Here, the world appears as a self-state.

It is not the event itself that is spoken of, but the self that was shaken by the event.

People with many emotional words often perceive the world not as facts, but as their own reactions.

The third layer is society.

I, me, that person, friend, parent, boss, subordinate, girlfriend, boyfriend, colleague, relationship, position.

Here, humans are placed not alone, but within the distance between others.

Who is above?
Who is close?
How am I seen by whom?
What kind of relationship do I have with whom?

Social vocabulary shows that humans live in a herd.

The fourth layer is institutions.

Work, company, contract, law, duty, responsibility, tax, insurance, procedure, evaluation, assessment.

Here, the world appears as a mechanism that transcends individual emotions.

It is not about whether you want to, but that you must.
It is not about whether you like it or not, but that there is responsibility.
It is not about mood, but that there are procedures.

Institutional vocabulary shows that humans have entered a stage of reading society not just as something they feel, but as a structure.

The fifth layer is abstraction.

Freedom, love, death, truth, meaning, existence, justice, sincerity, ethics, loneliness, faith, nothingness, contradiction, eternity.

Here, the world is questioned beyond the events in front of one's eyes.

Why live?
What do you believe in?
What is righteousness?
Is love possession?
Is freedom a choice?
Is death the end?

Abstract vocabulary shows a state where humans are not just living in the world, but questioning the world itself.

Chapter 3 | The bias of vocabulary is the center of gravity of one's world

Looking at what kind of vocabulary a person uses often reveals their world's center of gravity.

People with many instinctual words are strongly drawn to bodily comfort and discomfort.

People with many emotional words are prone to receiving events as emotions.

People with many social words tend to focus on human relationships and positions.

People with many institutional words read the world within responsibilities and rules.

People with many abstract words are trying to re-grasp reality as concepts.

Of course, this is not about superiority or inferiority.

It is not to say that someone is a lesser human because they have many instinctual words.

Nor is it to say that someone is superior because they have many abstract words.

A person who keeps saying "what is existence" when they are hungry is, if anything, broken.

In reality, every layer is necessary.

If you lose the body, you cannot live.
If you lose emotion, human warmth disappears.
If you lose society, relationships break down.
If you lose institutions, responsibility collapses.
If you lose abstraction, meaning becomes thin.

The problem is not which layer you are in.

It is being trapped in a single layer.

Chapter 4 | Misunderstandings of low-layer and high-layer vocabulary

What I want to be careful about here is the way of saying low-layer and high-layer.

If you say instinct is low and abstraction is high, it immediately sounds like a value judgment.

However, the hierarchy I am talking about here is not about greatness.

It is like underwater, on the ground, in the sky, and in space.

For a fish, underwater is not a low place.

For a bird, the sky is not a great place.

They just live in different places.

However, humans can move between multiple layers.

They eat, get angry, form relationships with someone, bear the responsibilities of work, and finally think about the meaning of life.

The interesting thing about humans is here.

Humans are animals, emotional bodies, social beings, inhabitants of institutions, and beings who question abstraction.

Therefore, when you look at vocabulary, you can see not only which layer a human is fixed in, but also which layers they can move between.

Chapter 5 | Vocabulary is not the nature itself

However, it is not the case that you can understand everything about a person by looking at their vocabulary.

Words can be decorated as much as one likes.

A person who uses abstract words is not necessarily deep.

A person who uses kind words is not necessarily kind.

A person who uses institutional words does not necessarily take responsibility.

Vocabulary is not the nature itself.

Rather, vocabulary includes how that person wants to be seen.

Therefore, you must not judge a human solely by their vocabulary.

What you should look at is the consistency between vocabulary and action.

What did the person who talks about love actually protect?

How did the person who talks about sincerity behave in troublesome situations?

What did the person who talks about responsibility take on when things were disadvantageous?

How far did the person who talks about freedom allow the freedom of others?

Vocabulary is a map.

But actions are footprints.

Where that person really was remains not in the map, but in the footprints.

Final Chapter | Vocabulary is the shadow of the world one dwells in

People use the words of the world they are in.

When submerged in the body, people use the words of the body.

When swallowed by emotion, people use the words of emotion.

When in a herd, people use the words of relationships.

When bound by institutions, people use the words of responsibility.

When searching for meaning, people use the words of abstraction.

Vocabulary is the shadow of the world.

What is that person looking at?

Where are they standing?

What are they trapped by?

Where are they trying to rise to?

These things permeate the choice of words.

Words are not the nature itself.

But vocabulary reflects the world in which humans dwell.

And I think that to see a human deeply is to observe not only what they said, but from which world that word emerged.

Related Articles

“Nature cannot be put into words”

“What does 'in their own way' mean?”

“The depths of the body are pulling at consciousness”