Because 1) language requires no translation from experience 2) language is relatively easy to record, communicate and analyze.
Thus it is inevitable that our language will slide from “reflecting reality” to “reflecting itself”.
Consider where that’s going.
Yeah, this is why an adult can learn a new language in a couple of months, whereas a newborn takes several years to grasp just the basics, and more than a decade to get good at it.
To misquote Eddie Harris, “It’s no big deal to learn another [language] once you know one. All you gotta do is have nerve.”
I personally think the second language is easier to pick up because languages are 99% alike. But that is beside my point.
My point is that slide into self-reflectingness.
Like one of those old xerox machines. A copy of a copy of a copy… till the original image is gone, replaced with something crazy.
Wittgenstein moment !
But yeah, it’s always important to make sure you’re not just saying words, you’re not just drawing the map of a non-existent terrain. Many people do this without knowing (what the hell does “MAGA” truly mean? How can a corporation also “be a person”? Even a pink elephant makes more sense and is more conceivable.) It’s also important to remember that many things cannot be easily/fully understood solely through words, but can only be met through experience and understood through reflection in the framework of words. This is why you can’t just “tell someone something” and expect them to “listen”. The words went through, sure, but they lack the rest to be on your side of the debate.