Our Hazy Perceptions

Our hazy perceptions The Norman Transcript December 01, 2007 12:23 am — Poets often see what many of us miss. The 19th century symbolist Charles Baudelaire speaking with the perception worthy of a psychologist observed that humans live in "a forest of symbols" and these dissolve into a "dark and confused unity." This accurately describes our condition. So our daily existence is passed moving from one bundle of symbols to another, always assuming the world is as the symbols suggest. We use imagination and reason to manufacture signs and symbols and live with them for several reasons. They help us maneuver through our complex existence, they disguise the unpleasant, they promote happiness and security, they foster profit and they sustain the illusion that we know what we don't. A symbol is a sign -- a design, an animal or a verbal badge that stands for a large body of ideas, habits or institutions. "Higher education'' is a symbol covering numerous complex realities -- scholars, administrators, professors, teachers and a sea of support bureaucrats. A tiger in Baton Rouge is a symbol of a football team, libraries, laboratories, degrees, professors and students. A lion does the same for Penn State just as a bear stands for the some in Berkeley or a trojan in LA. A Latin cross, signifies 2,000 years of Christian history, clerical bureaucracy, Scripture, saints and martyrs and the hope of millions. For the Nazis the Swastika symbolized the eminence of der Fuhrer, the absolute authority of the Third Reich and the superiority of German nationalism. In all these and in similar cases the symbols are easier to understand than the reality behind them. Like symbols everywhere they stand for the unseen world, the hidden world -- the loyalities, values and institutions -- both implied and covered by the images. Our lives are a complex of institutions, habits, emotions and rituals guided by symbols. Terms like "free enterprise'' and the "market'' stand for the business world. Here stores, banks, sales people, consumers and money control our behavior. Other symbols manipulated through advertisements, radio, television and reiterated mottos direct us from morning to night. Our social world and where we stand in it is defined by symbols -- houses, cars, furniture, clothes, country club memberships and professional credentials. Tuxedos and swimming pools are likely signs of status. In the world of jurisprudence "the Constitution'' and "the rule of law'' are symbols covering massive legalities -- laws, judgments, courts, procedural rules and statutes. "The Defense Department'' -- a pleasant euphemism for a sophisticated killing machine -- is a symbol standing for a complicated array of soldiers, sailors, airmen, guns, tanks, guided missiles, ships, airplanes and an endless arsenal designed to exterminate the "enemy.'' Failure to see through the ethical and economic implications of this symbol is a major explanation for our present difficulties. "The Flag'' and "the American Way'' are symbols for a government and society so complicated they all but defy comprehension. Reflect on some of the consequences of living in a world governed by symbols, a world of ever shifting images. There is irony in this circumstance for we are taught from childhood that the American-socialreligious perspective is founded on permanent truths. Yet the world of images in which we live is forever changing, guided principally by ambition and gain. Too often we fail to see that images are fantasies, illusions designed for some worldly purpose. We see the images and think they are objective and factual. We confuse their artificial nature with something real. Whatever else the "real" is it is not a symbol or sign cooked up by politicians or promoters for their special ends. The absence of critical habits of mind leads us to attribute unjustified meaning to symbols. Not all who affirm the virtues of democracy, for example, really mean it. Stealing elections, manipulating votes, perverting the truth cannot be reconciled with a genuine dedication to democracy. The same holds for religion; those who really believe it practice it. The widespread evil and selfishness in society suggest the authentic believers are few and far between. A principal reason for neglecting religion is the searing demands it entails. Much the same holds for economics. Manipulating the stock market, corrupting the law or false advertising may make money for the entrepreneur but this runs

counter to the principles of capitalism. Surreptitiously to change the rules of the marketplace while pretending to follow the standards of classical economics is deception, corruption hiding behind the symbol of capitalism. This impairs the integrity of the individual just as it erodes the integrity of the system. The world is flooded with symbols. We surrender to them from bad intellectual habits, fear and unacknowledged selfishness; they deflect our attention and energy from real problems. Peace and containing nuclear war are our first needs. Following which is population stabilization and the preservation of natural resources. Care of our beautiful country is deflected by slogans. Many are deceptively corrupting; they are persuasive unless one looks at them with a critical intellect. One consequence of a symbol based society is neglect of what is important, and clearly one of the weaknesses of our social order is pervasive triviality. In education we see this among other ways with four months of annual pig skin fervor. In religion we see it as we attribute human qualities to God. A recent and droll illustration was a prominent evangelist counseling his flock that "God wants you to be rich." In government we do it by incessant childish squabbling. In business we do it by extolling competition while seeking monopoly and by pretending that free enterprise is independent of government when American economic prosperity is and has been based on war spending for more than half a century. In the media we do it by running endless hours of juvenile babble. Profanity and irrelevance characterize much "entertainment" and language gets corrupted in the process. Since we live in the midst of this self-deception it is little wonder we floundered for years on the banks of the Mekong and now do the same on the banks of the Euphrates. Confusion abetted by a presumed sense of certitude is a frequent companion of the non-reflective mind. The serious study of symbols has been a province of anthropologists and their first cousins, linguists, as well as psychologists and philosophers for a very long time. One of the weaknesses of American society is the relegation of these studies to the category of "academic concerns'' rather than recognizing that they profoundly illuminate life. Politicians, entrepreneurs and evangelists could not sell much of their merchandise if the public were reflectively concerned about signs and symbols. Life would pass more smoothly for all if we viewed what is offered in the name of "freedom and democracy'' -- the good, the true and the beautiful'' -- with skepticism. A self-governing society makes stressful demands on its citizens. If we are serious about freedom and democracy these are inescapable. Every citizen should see through the maze of political, economic or religious platitudes inundating us while struggling to find what may be authentic about each. And citizens should judge critically the sea of jumbled symbols shot through our society intended to shape our tastes and loyalties. In doing so we may find wisdom and happiness even in a cruel and tarnished world. Lloyd Williams is a retired educator. He writes in the hope of diminishing a little of the confusion weakening our faltering Democratic-Republic. Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.