We are creatures of limited minds. We look on with envy at those people smarter than us, wondering how they understand things so well and so fast. But even in that envy, we realize that they too have their limits. We are humans. We are creatures of limited minds.
We can’t think of everything at once. We simply can’t. The stars moving, the earth turning, the politics of the country on every level, the economic situation around you, the problems that you have at work. Try keeping in mind all these things at once. It’s impossible. You can’t keep in mind multiple layers at once. But wait, don’t all problems and all situations have multiple layers?
Yes. Yes they do.
A problem with too many layers
So, let me paint you a problem. You want to explain something. You want to get your message across. But you also don’t want your audience to get bored while you explore the varied multi-level aspects of whatever it is that you’re explaining. What do you do?
Symbols.
You use symbols. It’s how good storytellers work. And filmmakers. Choose a scene that compresses that feeling into a moment. Then describe the moment. An example is the Susan Boyle video clip. Oh? You haven’t watched it yet?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PPlkOyaqaQ
You can actually pinpoint the moment that your emotions change. Your mind going from amusement to surprise to disbelief to wonder to shame and back to wonder again.
Tears streaming down. All in one moment. Symbolism. Or in another word, simplification.
To reduce it all into a moment that we can easily comprehend.
Any good movie or advertisement has that same moment. A simple scene of 2 people sitting in a room with rain streaming down the windows outside and candles lit. That moment, that imagery, conveys a deep feeling. You don’t have to know more. They don’t have to speak.
They don’t have to open their mouths and tell you that they’re feeling sad or happy or angry. That crass explanation would only ruin the perfect understanding we have of the situation.
But I can’t make films!
Don’t fret. Don’t worry. We all have our own tools.
Language works the same way. Instead of using video, you can just use words. Here’s a famous secret: sometimes words are powerful. Just ask Obama. Words have power behind them, the power to compress abstract ideas into 7 letters or less. They allow you to tell someone else what you mean by reducing all that complex information into a single word.
There are many complex ideas behind the words “go green”. How long would it take you to explain all the thoughts and emotions evoked by those simple 2 words?
This! This is symbolism. To embody a powerful concept into a picture, or a statue, or a sentence, or a brand, or even… even a person.
The best leaders… almost without exception and at every level, are master users of stories and symbols.
— Tom Peters
Think about it for a second. Are you loyal to any brands? Or do you feel very strongly about an idol/singer/celebrity? Do you love a movie? Here’s one that I know you’ll have to say yes to. Have you ever heard of Romeo and Juliet? All of these are symbols that evoke deeper feelings in you.
4 paragraphs ago, I used the name Obama. I could’ve instead written “politicians”, or described a situation where words are extremely powerful. That would’ve been a waste of time when I could just call forth the image of Obama and you would’ve understood what I meant. Using only a single word.
But there’s a problem, Houston
Did you catch that? This sub-heading is totally wrong. It’s supposed to be, “Houston, we have a problem“. And if you don’t know where that’s from, I have huge respect for you for not wasting your time on TV. +4 points. But you are soooooooo not a geek. -5 points. Let’s get back on topic. So, what is the problem?
The problem is… oversimplification.
We oversimplify and miss most of the layers of information. I mentioned before, the human mind is limited. Therefore, when an idea comes that has many layers of information, it’s only natural to miss many of those layers the first time around. The problem happens when the second time never comes. You never go back and ponder if there was more.
That way, you miss all the subtleties and complexities inherent in any symbol.
Because the purpose of symbolism isn’t to give you new information. It’s merely to anchor information and understanding that’s already there. So if someone doesn’t understand your symbol, showing it or telling him the symbol won’t give him understanding. You can only get the first layer of meaning across.
But it’s different if they already have understanding from before. What does this mean? What symbolism does, is to call upon all the layers of understanding that you already have, using a very simple message. Symbols are just triggers. And that, my dear readers, is why quotes can seem extremely wise.
Quotes (and yes, poems too)
Quotes don’t actually carry any meaning that’s more complicated than how long the quote really is (which is usually only one short sentence). However, the best quotes are phrased in ways that they call upon your own past and your own experiences.
Poetry is that art which selects and arranges the symbols of thought in such a manner as to excite the imagination the most powerfully and delightfully.
— William C. Bryant
And if you grow with time? Then reading the same quote again will make the quote even deeper. Is this because the quote has changed and become more complex? No. It’s still the same quote. This happens because you have more layers of information that are called upon when the symbol (the quote) is triggered.
Which is a reason why quotes are so loved by most people. You can say a quote, and everyone will nod. Does this mean that everyone understands it? Not necessarily. Does this mean that some people are lying when they say they understand the quote? Not necessarily either.
We would all understand them at our own level, at different layers. Because we’ve all had different experiences. And we love that feeling of having understood the words of the wise, the words of the ancients that have come before us, the words of those who understood life.
Do you see the problem with symbolism now?
It’s a vague message. In fact, it’s only a trigger. It’s a wink and a nudge and afterwards expecting that the other person understands completely your extremely complicated plan that should’ve taken 10 minutes to describe.
Note:* Symbolism can also be in pictures, and can also be in your deeds (what you do). For the purpose of simplicity, I will write here mostly about words, but you can replace “words” with “images/deeds” & “listening” with “seeing/wanting to do”.*
No. There’s a time and a place for symbolism, but too often we use symbolism to communicate, as if there were no clearer words to describe our thoughts.
But they’re still extremely powerful. Because it turns out that when symbols and symbolic gestures are used well, they are far, far, far more potent and moving than normal messages because we’re not really listening to the other person. We’re listening to ourselves.
We’re listening to our own voices explaining those quotes, using our own layers, using our own stories. Of course we’re convinced! Of course then, those words carry meaning for us. The only problem is that you can give whatever meaning you want to those symbols.
So when do I use symbolism?
Think of Obama. Think of his words, “Yes. We. Can!”
Remember that symbols aren’t actually the message themselves. They’re merely the trigger.
Once a symbol is tied to a feeling or an emotion or a memory or an idea, the symbol can be triggered instead. Afterwards, instead of having to make the same speech all over again, and taking 20 minutes to do so, he could just say 3 words and have a similar effect. Or think “red” and get angry. Or hear “cancer” and get sad. Or read “be yourself” and understand whatever it is you understand from it.
That is the power of symbols.
They don’t give new information, but they can call back old information so quickly, so vividly.
They don’t convey new information, but often times, the message you want to send is not entirely new. To send that message to another person, you have to bear in mind that we humans have limited minds. In that context, it’s often much much more efficient to send the message by using a symbol first, a trigger to call forth old information, then later add on the parts of the message that are new.
So instead of explaining the whole situation to someone, you can instead say, “Remember the incident that happened on our last holiday? Yeah, it was like that except this time I actually succeeded.” Short. Simple. Efficient.
Conclusion
Symbols are triggers. And you have to remember that triggering them might not call forth the exact message that you want. So you should either choose your symbol very carefully, or use the symbol and afterwards explain further to make sure they understand at the same level that you do.
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.
— Albert Einstein