The pulsation of meanings in the dance of emptiness
By weeks 25–26, a fetus can already hear external sounds and begins to hear the mother's voice, memorizing intonations and the rhythm of speech. Newborns use this to recognize the language their mother spoke, distinguishing it from foreign languages. They are also capable of distinguishing all sounds that exist in the world's languages.
Neurolinguists suggest that we are born with an innate capacity for language – a hypothetical "universal grammar" that allows a human to acquire any language.
Where is this going. The ability to speak beautifully and grammatically correctly is not some complex, hard‑earned skill; we get a bunch of bonuses for it even before birth. And that can lead to certain consequences.
There are various phenomena where a person can speak very beautifully and correctly, while their speech is devoid of any meaning, or there is very little of it.
For example, Wernicke's aphasia. It occurs when Wernicke's area in the brain, which is responsible for understanding speech, is damaged. As a result, people can speak fluently, but what they say often makes no sense.
Or Williams syndrome, where a person may have an IQ of 40–50 but excellent linguistic abilities.
There is also schizophasia, which is characteristic of some people with schizophrenia. An example of a phrase: "The blue balloon was burning behind the corner of time."
And of course, without any pathology, a person can express themselves wonderfully, yet their speech will still carry no meaning. For example, there is the term "empty rhetoric" – turns of phrase or statements that sound convincing or elegant but lack real content. Or "deepity" – phrases that seem profound but are meaningless, such as: "Love is just love."
Now to some psychological effects related to the perception of such speech. Many people with a low level of critical thinking may consider this kind of speech meaningful or even deep. For instance, there is the term "bullshit receptivity" – people's tendency to ascribe meaning to meaningless statements. Some people who took part in studies rated the phrase "Hidden possibilities make the universe infinitely one" as profound. There is also the term "pseudo‑profound statements" and various others.
Where is this going. It is very easy to fall for a person who can deliberately use this for not‑so‑selfless purposes. Or even if this person sincerely believes they are bringing wisdom, you can, without noticing, start to see them as a giant of thought, feel reverence, and adopt not wisdom, but something rather foul‑smelling.