one word [order]

(ref: here)

"Nobody knows," replied the doctor.

"Knows what," I asked, more bored than anything else.

"Nobody really knows what chaos looks like."

"Well of course they do - it's simply the opposite of order, right?"

"No, order doesn't have an opposite. 'order' is simply the degree to which something is organized."

"Right ..."

"So saying that order is the opposite of chaos is like saying chaos is the degree to which something is disorganized."

"Right ..."

"But that's not it at all ... we can't measure disorganization and so we can't identify chaos. All we can measure is organization."

"Yes, but isn't this simply one of those negative definitions - where you identify something by what it isn't?"

"No - you can use them for analogies but not definitions."

"Oh, I see; I guess you're right. But that doesn't mean they can't see it, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, just because you can't define something doesn't mean it doesn't exist, right?"

"Well, yes, yes of course; but the scientific ... "

"You're bringing up an irrelevant point and you know it. The heart knows things that the mind cannot endure."

"What are you talking about - that sounds like irrelevant drivel!"

"No it isn't and it brings up a valid counter-point. You can see chaos even if you can't define it."

"Well ... but if you can't define it, how can you identify it?"

"What do you mean?"

"You and I might see the same thing, but if we can't talk about it and don't have words to discuss it, then it doesn't matter."

"I think you're a bit too narrow-minded - just because you don't have words for something doesn't meant it doesn't exist."

"On a rather important level it does."

"No, it doesn't - it just means you don't have a box to put what you see into."

"Yes, and that's what I'm trying to ..."

"No, no, no. Some experiences can only be alluded to and identify after they've been shared. Words don't help with those."

"... like what ... "

"Try explaining temperature to someone with no sense of touch."

"That is a rather out-of-the-ordinary scenario. I don't see how ..."

"This is simple. So simple. And you don't get it. Because it's beneath you."

"How dare you!"

"Actually quite easily. Good day, sir."

"Good day, indeed!"

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