June 6, 2025
Useful, not true
“Perspective is a lie. Why should my brush lie to you just because my eye lies to me? I know the pond is round, so why would I draw it as an oval just because that’s how it looks to me? Round is the truth. Oval is a lie.”
—Paraphrased from The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett
What does this quote (from a satirical fantasy novel, of all things!) have to do with business?
It reminds me of words.
How so?
To answer that, it might be helpful to take a step back and think about what words are.
From ChatGPT:
Words are symbolic units of meaning used in language to represent and communicate ideas, objects, actions, emotions, relationships, and abstractions.
And:
- Words are abstractions: They refer to concepts, not the actual things.
- The relationship between word and meaning is arbitrary (no natural connection between the sound “tree” and a physical tree).
- Meaning is socially negotiated: Communities agree on what words mean.
I agree with all this.
Maybe this is a stretch, but I think it’s reasonably fair to say that since all words are abstract, arbitrary, and socially negotiated, they can’t be “true” in the objective sense.
So why do we have words?
Because - like perspective - words are extremely useful.
Here’s the thing...
Why does this matter?
I’m glad you asked! :-)
Here’s why:
In your communications - business or personal - concern yourself less with being “right” (or “true”) and more with communicating ideas in a way that will produce the desired action in the reader.
Yours,
—J