That little word “like”…

“It is evident that this tendency to invent analogies deriving from feeling-toned contents has been of enormous significance for the development of the human mind.  We are in thorough agreement with Steinthal when he says that a positively overwhelming importance attaches to the little word “like” in the history of human thought.” ~ Carl Jung, Symbols of Transformation, par. 203

Many of the students I work with have a habit of using the word “like” peppered throughout their speech, not much different than the habitual use of “um.”  I fell into the same habit some seven years ago so I can identify with how “like” became a type of slang that signifies the mind’s search for it’s next idea.

The analogical power that Jung is pointing to in the quote above has little to do with my student’s use of the word, unless it in a strange unconscious way mimics the initial discovery of analogy.  A sort of mental stuttering in an attempt to sort out a phrase which will capture intention, like the repeated tossing of a spear into the water trying catch a fish.

These days I have had much time to observe the emergence of language in our soon to be one year old daughter.  Nouns are first:  Ma, Da, en (Ben) are spoken.  And pooh (doll), bus (a toy), bottle, banana are all understood as well as bye bye, nap and bed time.  The fist verb is emerging with the first steps…walk.

What I’m learning is that at a very basic level, every word is an analogy for what it signifies.  And when we can weave them we are actually building analogies upon analogies.  Why is that important?  It goes with what I presented yesterday about our emergence as a species 25,000 years ago.  The symbol making begins with Ma and Da. Symbols flow first from our breath, also know as the spirit, the Word.