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Re: so why do people do this?
Dara Barnett (daraone@CCNET.COM)
Fri, 23 Jun 1995 09:12:31 -0700
On Thu, 22 Jun 1995, Charles A. Smith wrote:
> vance geiger states:
> "All this activity produces is symbols and a lot of non-productive
> (in a material sense) human behavior."
>
> Most likely I am stepping on the obvious, but why restrict production to
> the strictly material. The production and creation etc of symbols
> is significant if for no other reason than that people live and die
> by them. Symbols may not produce any food or material items, at least
> not directly, but people all over the world seem ready to kill or be killed
> for such concepts as law and order, decidedly symbolic influences.
>
> As for why people do this.
>
> I have no idea, but I do want to at least try to get a grip on what
> symbols have meaning for some group of people.
>
> Now the trick is to be able to tell the rest of you what those symbols
> mean to that group of people.
reply:
Well, I think that the creation of symbols is the mental projection of
peoples who are searching for an inner connection to each other. A
symbol becomes an almost ethereal entity that the disconnected can focus
upon to feel united with other believers. If a symbol that I identify
with, is, for instance, a cross, I can sense a feeling of unity with
others who identify with a cross even if I am not with them. This sense
of unity is certainly intensified when I am physically joined with these
other believers in person and we can see a material representation of the
symbol. This is all pretty basic thinking but I wanted to spout a bit.
dara
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