2026/05/02
Last night I had a thought about the way we use words in a way that's... maybe not dishonest, but it definitely contrasts with what's intuivie to me.
"Interesting is a word that I've heard a lot. And I even use it constantly."
What exactly is "interesting", though? Something that drives us to engage further? If so, I would dare to say most of us don't really use that word like it's "meant to be used" (not that language is static and can't change, but you know what I mean).
This inference comes from a purely personal observation, of course, I don't believe myself to be smart enough to claim this is a universal experience. Even moreso considering I'm rather socially incapable myself.
I wouldn't really say that it's a completely vacuous use of the word, though.
A "phatic function", I think it's called. It is quite literally a word used to keep the conversation going.
If you haven't noticed, I'm an extreme over-thinker, and I chose this weird rambling as first entry.
It's always interesting to ruminate these subjects.
Such is life.