One of the most humbling experiences I’ve ever had in communicating was in placing a takeout order – by myself – not far from Beijing. I’d practiced at length before going to the restaurant & felt confident ordering eggplant to go. Little did I know, I, evidently, mispronounced the word qié zi so badly it was almost impossible to understand. (Hopefully I have the pinyin right. I wish I’d known 茄子 offhand.)

I still feel my pronunciation sounded like my coach’s, but it was only evidently clear both to the restauranteur and to me that we understood one another after I was welcomed back to the kitchen, shown an eggplant, and gestured that that, indeed, was what I meant.

For all the legitimate critique that has been levied at modern China’s communications policies, it feels important, too, to acknowledge that there is a genius to the muli-modality of Chinese language, which enables one to toggle between words and characters, especially when interacting with speakers of other dialects.

The Chinese language, in other words, is encrypted; and the added level of complexity arguably protects against misunderstanding, rendering it relatively robust and secure.

On Embodied Knowledge

Not long ago, I observed a horseback riding class and loved the way it underscored the indispensable role process sometimes plays in learning, understanding, and memory.

In researching a little bit about the differences between traditional and simplified Chinese – the former only still widely used in a few places, like Hong Kong and Taiwan – it is hard not to consider the magnitude of loss when decision-makers deem artifacts of process previously considered essential eligible for amputation. This is as there is a certain artistry, or earnestness, to the artifact and artistry is mind-opening, inoculating thinkers against manipulation. (There is a huge difference between abstraction and coding, I believe; and true art invites observers – and makers – to both explore the world and plumb their own minds and hearts. If coding shuts down conversation, abstraction opens it back up, welcoming more people to see in themselves needed contributions, insights, and gifts to be honed and shared.)

On Learning

Increasingly, helpful information feels not only under-appreciated but deliberately obscured; and every time I read that a whistleblower or other truth-teller, hoarse from years of outreach, “broke their silence,” I feel incredulous.

But it’s in the genuine process of solving problems that we can innoculate ourselves against ones so overwhelming that the less prepared could be tempted, at their own peril, to pretend; and just as in bioweapons warfare, our salvation against seemingly unsolvable problems is not in proliferation or PR but, rather, investment in antidotes.

I hope more people will at least consider preserving processes in all their complexity where it is helpful to do so. It’s arguable that, as undesirable as the loss of traditional Chinese writing is to considered to be by some people, an end to traditional journalism may be worse. When daunted, I believe it’s helpful to remember that there are those who have done harder things. Thousands have summited Mount Everest, for example. (Even braver souls have completed all steps in what can be rather confrontational processes involved in cancelling subscriptions to more behomoth and bullying media outlets.)

Surely it is as important for such individuals to let others know not only what feats they’ve accomplished – but how.