The Velvet Revolution

File under Avoid the Machine

This past weekend, the former Czech playwright and president, Vaclav Havel, died.  The leader of the velvet revolution and the man most recognizable for the demise of communism in Czechoslovakia was the antithesis of the odd, totalitarian, megalomaniac world leader who unfortunately shared the same day of passing as Havel.

Havel was by all accounts a sensitive social thinker and artist, a reluctant face of a movement, but a willing statesman nonetheless.  He had many great contributions to society, but i'm drawn to his interpretation of language as a reflection of reality.

"I love logically constructed, totally convincing arguments which defend total nonsense.  It interests me to explore the misuse of language, the special role language plays in our conditions, where language is peculiarly misused and at the same time elevated so that often the way we speak about something is more important than reality itself. And someone who has mastered a certain language can go a long way whatever the reality the situation.  It is as if language became a motor of events, the creator of reality, more real than reality itself."

There is a great BBC profile of Havel here, from which the above came.

Havel's description of language and it's reflection (or lack there of) of reality reinforces the thought that a well-constructed argument doesn't necessarily need to be based in reality.  Language is intended to persuade, to dissuade, or to influence. We use language to create our reality, and others use it to create their own, sometimes at our expense. The self-help machine is adept at telling us what our faults are, but a carefully crafted description of our shortcomings may have little to nothing to do with the truth, especially when it comes to others' benefit. 

When does the language not represent your reality?  When do totally convincing arguments only truly defend total nonsense?


Song of the Day
In honor of the millions who at the end of the 80s woke up to a new reality that Vaclav Havel helped create, the song of the day is Arcade Fire's "Wake Up".