Monday, September 23, 2024

Exquisite Ambiguities


(This is a rewrite of an essay I wrote in 2022.)

At a coffee shop with an old journalist friend, we found ourselves speculating about the intersection between math and language. And why it is at that exact place on the left-right brain spectrum where some of us feel most comfortable.

When it comes to math, we like the logic and the specificity, and the certainty that there will be an answer, once enough patience kicks in.

When it comes to language, we like the cadence and trajectory, but also the Old Germanic specificity of English. We also like the layers of meaning and adaptability of English, thanks to the Norman invasion and other historical events that altered the course of the Anglo-Saxon dialect with French diversions.

Maybe, when it comes down to it, what we really like most about English is its exquisite ambiguity, which is quite unlike math. Whenever we can convey multiple meanings with our words, that suits us just fine.

There is a very specific, math-like reason for this. As journalists, we prefer to avoid being placed in a position where we’re expected to tell people what they should think. That is simply not our job.

Our preference is to present the facts as we’ve discovered them to be and let readers draw their own conclusions.

That’s what we aspire to. Let the math of language meet the language of math. Where certainty encounters uncertainty. Alas, we fail as often as we succeed. It’s the law of averages.

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