Language, the poor man’s music

If I hadn’t grown up playing competitive tennis, I would’ve likely been a musician. But here I am, a grown ass adult man with no musical training, and a penchant towards the creative fields. Should I feel completely hopeless? No. This is where language comes in. I think language, in its purest form, can serve an analogous role to music. Most of us have read a work of literature, such as fiction or a piece of poetry, and have been affected by it in some profound way similar to as if we were engaging with music. Language has the power to evoke, to change people, and to inspire the uninspired much like music.

Coincidentally, writing is my current profession’s bread and butter. It is arguably the single most important skill that an academic can possess because writing is a cognitive act that is a reflection of our thought process–thinking is the entire point of being an academic. We pour our values into our writing and communicate a part of us with other human beings in a universally accepted form. Nevertheless, I sometimes do feel that language can have its restrictions. Ever experience a moment when you can’t seem to find the appropriate words to convey your thoughts? Well, I have a lot of those, and I imaging that as a neuroimaging scientist whose work is not grounded in language that I will continue to have a lot of those experiences in my upcoming career.

So language as the poor man’s music. Language is more or less universal whereas learning an instrument is typically reserved for the elites within society. Almost anyone with an education has access to language and can thus improve their skills with practice. That is the beauty of this human creation that is often taken for granted.