Language

"Language is the best tool we have, but it keeps getting in the way. So in science, we revert to mathematics. And in theology, we revert to poetry. Mathematics and imagination are two ways of talking about things beyond normal language."
Based on your experiences with poetry in previous years, and in the beginning of our new unit, comment on this excerpt. Here are some questions to get you thinking: Can mathematics and poetry be linked in this way? Why does language get in the way? If it gets in the way, why is the language of poetry more apt to tap into truth than other forms of language (prose, etc.)? Is it possible to "part the veil", to "see beyond" our experience through the medium of words - the words of poems in particular? Is McLaren suggesting the languages of poetry and mathematics are holy in some way?

= Well, personally, I have always thought of how language is the start of everything. It's amazing how just words itself can change someone's emotions or even drastic as change someone's life. It can make someone cry yet it can make someone smile. It can make someone want to go do something as to change the world, yet it can make someone go suicidal.
Language does constantly get in the way of our everyday lives. We all have times where we have to say something to express a thought, but you just don’t know how to say it right to deliver the exact feeling you want to put to words. Simply as when we need directions, many people tend to take out a pencil and draw to explain than to rather inform the other person with just words. In math equations, we need to draw some figures to find out what a polygon is or what’s not. Sometimes, you have to see it in a different perspective in order to know what that exactly feels. This is where poetry comes in. Poetry is like feelings poured down on a piece of paper but by comparing it with different things rather than directly saying it. (That’s what I think at least) Sometimes you have to tell your friend, “You know that feeling when you do _____? It feels like that!” Like, you don’t know how to describe it so you have to compare it to something else for them to understand. For example, people often ask what love is. Nobody can explain the exact meaning of love. So we all tend to describe love with something else that we have experienced through.
As my personal opinion, I don’t think McLaren is suggesting that languages of poetry and mathematics are holy. I mean, they help but to the point where it’s holy I’m not sure. Yet sometimes, the fact that mathematics and poetry can inspire people’s lives and the fact that they get to express through these two sources is what I find it remarkable about those two.