No one person will be able to come up with the perfect way to share an idea to the entire world. Ever.

Our modern world is suffering from the idea, one formed from insecurity, that there is a magic phrase or sentence that will convey an idea universally. So, people quietly wait for lightning to strike as inspiration, and if it does not, then it is someone else’s responsibility. Or, they just share a quote by someone that touched them once, erroneously believing that it must also touch everyone else. (And if it does not… Those people are damaged and ignorant.)

The reality is that communication can never be universal. Language is built from shared experiences, which is an insurmountable barrier to universality. The only thing that comes close to universality is abusiveness. Being abused is a universally shared experience. Even more than love. Thus, mainstream and social media are the way they are because they are trying to be universal.

When the ideas of science were being introduced 150 years ago, all the artists and philosphers were trying to share their excitement in their own voices. Some people where touched by the painters, others by the poets, and so on. Ultimately, through this patchwork, the ideas reached enough people to make a difference.

Everyone has the capacity to spread ideas, but it takes a little work to make sure that those idea are packaged to be recieved properly. Otherwise we are dismissed as lunatics, conspiracy theorists, or whatever is the dismissal-du-jour.

We must use our own honed form of expression and have faith that others are doing the same, making a patchwork quilt that covers the world.