Wilcot & his trouble with symbols.

How we view our world is based largely on how we understand those symbols which surround us.

Take a fictional character, Wilcot, for example. Wilcot is new to his world. Most people in his world wear clothing. But Wilcot does not know what it means for someone to weave fabric together into what his neighbor, Samantha, calls the latest fashion trend. Sometimes, Samantha walks to her car in blue jeans. Wilcot knows what blue is because where he came from the only edible food appeared blue once cooked. The concept of jeans, though, is foreign to poor Wilcot. Samantha has suggested jeans to Wilcot, and he has tried them, but they fit too tightly for his liking. Other times, when Samantha goes out after dark, Wilcot notices her wearing fabrics even more closely and tightly fitted to her legs than jeans. This time, the fabrics stop some inches above her ankles. Wilcot once asked, “Should I try those, too?” She only laughed because she thought him to be joking. A day later, Wilcot walked to his mailbox wearing nothing but leggings. Poor Wilcot.

I’m not sure how long Wilcot will last without being mocked until he figures out exaclty the style of clothing he is supposed to wear. If he only has Samantha as a reference to the clothing people wear, he may not be getting information that will suit him best. Wilcot’s concept of clothing is certainly expanding each time he sees Samantha wearing something different. And because of this he will be able to share with her what jeans and leggings are; what they look like; and the name Samantha attributed to each.

But is he sharing the correct information?

If we were able to share only a limited amount of information, that is, if we could shape our world with only that information garnered and shared between a small group of people, what information would we choose to store in our memories, and what would we choose to discard?