Loose Talk

When we talk we compress our language to save time and energy, using cliche, pop references and other tricks to “load” our words with extra meaning. This is a lazy way of writing as it puts all the work on the side of the reader to decipher intent, but it’s necessary in most cases. It’s analogous to photography, where images are compressed before sharing on the internet, stripped of less needed information while the important information (edges, color) is often emphasized by sharpening and increasing saturation. Cliche is also used to reference previous ideas and “harness” the power of those ideas already embedded in the viewer’s mind. Notice the loaded language.

It is important not to take this kind of talk too seriously. The post-modernist critics were able to ignore the consequences and barrel ahead with such thoughts without pause, but in this age of attention scarcity we have to get to the point.