One of the guiding principles of semantics is that the symbol is not the thing. And from a very real, and highly spatial point of view, this is absolutely true. We are not, despite our physical forms, purely physical creatures moving through space.

Though in the far more limited reality of physicality the symbol is not the thing, in the unlimited reality of thought, the symbol quite definitively is the thing. In one respect, this coincides with the sorcerous form of magic, but in another and far more verifiable respect, it falls into simple psychology. Because symbols are how we communicate, how we think, because symbols are almost invariably our only way of relating to our world, no matter how we might disagree, at least in our minds the symbol is the thing. If we convincingly alter our perceptions of the symbols involved, why then we alter the thing, as far as we are concerned. And in a very real, and spatial way, we alter the thing as far as it's concerned as well.

Symbols are important. Symbols are your life. Don't say it's just a symbol. It's all you have.

recent...
2001-04-16 - Damn semantics.
2001-04-13 - something
2001-04-13 - Scary story.
2001-04-12 - Yeah. I'm already gone.
2001-04-11 - Size