essay on why cliches are important

communication between people is impossible. all people learn language individually. nobody taught me, or any person, language. language suddenly appears, spoken, in children. parents, when they parrot words at children, do not teach children language. language is genetic. the structures of language are already in our brains. all languages use similar structures. humans may learn which words to associate w/ which structures through hearing, but it is not taught.

each person has an individual language which is completely unique w/ individual associations for all words. i'm color blind. when i was young i felt that i shouldn't be judged 'color-blind' & that really these other people were 'color-blind'. i can see colors. my perception of of colors & their associated names is genetically different. i think language is the same. each person has individual language so 'real' communication b/w two people [or more] is impossible. two people can't think the same thought, or directly communicate a thought so perfectly that the other communicator [interlocutor?] thinks the same thought.

this is why cliches are important. cliches aid in person to person communication. the impossibility of communication causes, in my opinion & experience, anxiety & stress. someone says to me, 'i think peeing is an inherently political act'. i become anxious. i don't know how to answer. cliches lessen this anxiety & stress. cliches are culturally agreed upon phrases to express simple ideas [still impossible to communicate exactly]. if i possess a command of cliche, i can easily answer something like, 'tmi: too much information' or something equally boring, unoriginal, & a-unique.

the stress & anxiety produced from attempts at communication, i think, lead to violence. example: i was maybe twenty-three, at a bar w/ some friends. i shake my head about something. guy says, 'you shake your head at me?'-makes fists. the shaking of my head meant something specific to him. i say, 'maybe i shook my head, but it wasn't at you.' he says, 'you shake your head at me...'-adlibs something about causing physical pain.

stress & anxiety from communication is bad. cliches are good.