We tend to believe that language is the best way to express thought. Yet words can obscure as much as they reveal. Philosophers from Nietzsche to Heidegger argue that language is largely metaphor and unable to describe reality fully. Artists have long recognized this. "If you could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint," said Edward Hopper. The feeling created by a Rothko painting, for example, would be difficult or impossible to create using words. Meanwhile, in everyday conversations, spoken language accounts for only 7% of meaning, with tone and body language conveying the rest.
In a world rapidly shifting towards videos, images, and music, can non-verbal forms of expression say more than words ever could? Are non-verbal forms of expression the key to accessing truths that language cannot reach? Or is language the only route to clarity, complexity, and precision, and images and video a threat to our culture and thought?
