When 'Brain Dead' Becomes A 'Dead End' For Some People

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 10 October 2022 " Today, one writer used the term "brain dead." I choked up when I read it. Someone who asserts that another person's mind is dead does so because he feels intellectually superior. People of this genre are typically incapable of using their intelligence to its full potential and are unable to understand how our God prevents us from feeling disappointed in spite of all of our flaws. " " What We Can Find Words For Is Already Dead In Our Hearts." -Nietzsche " Shabdaarth Pratibhutam, Prateetichasya Vyvadhanam. " (There's always a wide chasm between a word and its perceived and often popular connotation) Yask in his Nirukta, a technical treatise on etymology, lexical category and the semantics of Sanskrit words This pertains to my term 'brain dead' that choked up, nay gobsmacked, a few readers and as I've quoted at the outset, the gentleman believes that those who resort to using such terms are incapable of using their potential to the optimum. This is again a pontificating opinion and we've no dearth of opinionated people who're forever willing to opine and judge others. These free opinion givers must realize that using the term 'brain dead' for someone is not showing condescension or intellectual superiority. " Words are often vague and rather insincere representations of what one actually thinks " (Horace, translated by Sir Ted Hughes in 'Greeko-Latin Connotational Imprints', OUP, 1972). So, employing an Intentional Fallacy to discern the mind of the user of a word is itself a fallacy one must get rid of. We must remember Noam Chomsky's words that the words are verbally associated, but psychologically separate entities. In Neuro-Linguistics, this phenomenon is called lingual dissociation: A gulf between what has been perceived and what was intended by the speaker or user. When you burst firecrackers, you first see the light followed by the sound. There's a fractional difference between the two happenings. In other words, it's not a simultaneous process. Likewise, calling a person 'brain dead' is metaphorical rather than literal. Chilean Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda called Nehru a 'brain dead sciolist.' Nehru had that rare magnanimity and he respected Neruda. He (Nehru) just smiled and said, " I cannot peek into his (Neruda's) mind to discern what he meant by 'brain dead'. He may have had an altogether different meaning of the word ' (quoted by Dr. Radhakrsishnan's son Sarvapalli Gopal in The Hindu, 1974). I may not be a wordsmith but I use my words very judiciously and am never disdainful of anyone, not even of those who criticise and peel my skin off. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/brain-dead-end/d/128139 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism