Fiction: The Wordless Wordle
THE WORDLESS WORDLE
BY:-
Name : Hitaishi Thakkar
Designation: Medical student & Blogger
College: Terna medical College
The ancient man created 26 alphabets to form the English language, which is astonishing and crazy at the same time.
A combination of merely 26 alphabets makes up a total of 1,025,109 words in the English language.
It’s strange how we have formed a plethora of combinations of alphabets that now make complete sense in our brain.
It’s now unthinkable to imagine a world without words. We speak and write as a primary mode of communication, that’s what distinguishes us from other mammals and lower species.
Can we truly survive in a world without words?
Has communication become a fundamental irreplaceable part of humanity?
It truly does play a pivotal role in today’s world in every aspect and truly every sector. The same goes even in healthcare.
But I wonder? How would communication in healthcare be if not for the existence of words.
History taking, instructions to the patient, interpretation of laboratory reports all would be seemingly impossible.
But in healthcare communication is not only done with verbal or written word, non verbal communication plays an equally important role and forms a critical piece in the puzzle of Bioethics.
Sometimes we say a lot even without saying a word. Our actions speak louder than our words. The way we smile when our patients walk in,while holding the door for them makes them more likely to respond positively and take the medical advice seriously.
Other actions such as body language or showing expressions that are positive and welcoming instead of uninterested poker face impact the doctor patient dynamic.
The way we sit and present ourselves gives a sense of comfort, take this as an example, you enter a room, your doctor has a big frown like the dean in your college trying to suspend you, he crosses his legs and looks at you from a high chair, you look up like a timid dog guilty of tearing the bedsheet. You scream internally out of fear and all this turmoil is built without any spoken or written word. In contrast a doctor who escorts you to your seat, while keeping a steady smile makes you more comfortable.
Our words however clear and knowledgeable appeal to the brain of an individual whereas our non verbal gestures and good expressions have the potential to touch people’s hearts.
Our primitive non verbal instincts notice the small changes in expression and body language which help in the deep assessment of our mood even when the words are false or deceitful.
A lot of diagnostic capabilities are based on such primitive responses such as sitting on the edge of a chair while tapping the foot continuously could be a sign of anxiety whereas a festooning gait can aid the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.
This is fairly applicable for paediatrics where the patient is a minor who doesn’t speak any language, the doctor still checks and treats the baby who is non verbal and doesn’t understand much about hospitals or doctors.
While a lot of importance goes into learning and speaking languages we are not limited by our words or by our understanding of a language. We can recognise intention and feelings even without understanding the words said to us.
Our travel exposes us to new languages and cultures but we prevail, because words are a part of the conversation and not the entire conversation.
The innate ability to feel love, kindness, altruism, and emotion is deep rooted into us as evidenced by the connection with animals.We communicate with our eyes, body, head, hands as much as we do with our larynx.
We as a community are bounded not by knowing a common language but by the emotional glue of humanity that binds us. As higher beings, the spoken word may seem superior but remember that in times of adversity, it is the unspoken word that says a lot even while being silent.
