Captain PMS 8/29

Captain’s Blog Stardate 9/01/06

I was greatly relieved after our last class to discover that I had understood our readings. I had this image of myself in a nightmare scenario where I realized I had grasped none of the concepts. Fortunately, that was not the case. Ever since class ended I have had that song that says “Signs, signs everywhere are signs / blocking up the scenery / breakin’ my mind / Do this don’t do that / Can’t you read the signs?” Forgive me if those are not the right words but I have not heard the song in a while and besides, these are the words in my head so they are what I am commenting on.
De Saussere says, “Without language, thought is a vague uncharted nebula.” It makes me think about how many signs there are now telling us what to do. I find it funny that because of language one has to do very little thinking these days. If you have trouble making choices it really isn’t a problem now, you can just follow the signs. Almost every product we use has a label telling us how to use it. Once you get in your car to ride to work there are a million signs telling you where to go and how to get there. Every office has signs all over the place telling you how to use supplies. Sometimes in the mornings it seems as though the whole world is on auto-pilot. People drive around me in a dazed stupor I find terrifying. They are dependent on the signs around them, the ones both on the road and inside their cars, to tell them what to do. If what De Saussere says is true, than all the language we have is likely to turn our thoughts back into a “vague uncharted nebula” simply because we don’t have to think nearly as much as we should.