[Nanook is talking with Father Vincent. Nanook is italic type.]

“Look. There’s a very important lesson here for you. And that is the difference between KNOWLEDGE and WISDOM. KNOWLEDGE is a collection of facts. Let’s assume that each of those facts is actually true, which isn’t always the case. But, assuming that each fact is true, that fact may only be true for a limited set of circumstances. For example, positive charges do attract negative charges. We also describe plus and minus charges as opposite charges. So, for the case where the opposites are plus and minus charges, the statement is true. But when plus and minus are mathematical symbols, the statement is false. WISDOM, on the other hand, is the ability to sort out knowledge for CONSISTENCY or USEFULNESS on a BROAD SCALE. This is where humans fall apart. Your first response to the ‘opposites attract’ question was normal. And that response is the key to understanding one more key element of how humans learn language. While there is a strong emotional component involved, which all by itself can link to and trigger phrases, we also learn very early to link specific sets of words – TRIGGER WORDS if you will – to larger single phrase groups.”

“OK. I’ll buy that. If someone calls you a jerk, out come your favorite quick comeback lines without even having to think about them. In fact, a lot of times I wish they wouldn’t come out.”

“And that’s how people go through their day. They hear the word ‘Democrats’ on the radio, for example, and their head lights up with a hundred choice things to say about Democrats. Of course, what lights up depends on what side of the political fence they are on. And that is the adult result of where we started as kids. Over time, our brain has established a set of links between trigger words and single phrase groups. SINGLE SENTENCE LOGIC. Got it.”

“Scary!”

“Scary is being kind. It’s disastrous! Think about people listening to a political candidate talk. The politicians are experts at knowing what trigger words or phrases are common in society. They select the ones that have the strongest emotional effect for the largest number of people. Then you hear those over and over again, with strong reinforcement for what they want you to believe they mean. Communist! Bleeding heart liberal! Child molester! Civil rights! Abortion! Atheist! And when the emotions of crowds are factored in, there is almost no chance for any kind of true exploration of any issues to occur.

Another scary thing about this phenomenon is how long the human race has known about it. At least, some people in the human race have known about it. Heraclitus told us 2000 years ago, ‘the learning of many things teacheth not understanding.’ And society still doesn’t have a clue this is going on.”