Lessons From a Sidewalk: Form Without Function – Message Without Meaning

Robert Hruzek has done it again. He has given us a nearly impossible WILF (What I learned from…) project. This month we are supposed to learn something from a sidewalk. I have learned a few lessons from a bike, a pot-hole, and pieces of my face, chest, arms and legs left all over the road, but that was not a sidewalk. I was having trouble coming up with something about a side-walk.

Luckily, I happened to be walking downtown this morning and looked-up to see the strangest thing.

Do you see what I see, or more precisely, do you not-see what I did not-see? If you don’t see it, don’t worry I didn’t either, and reason is…. (drum roll)…. It’s not there! Some ignorant (I mean that in the nicest possible way) architect tried to imitate a style he did not understand and made a laughing stock of himself for hundreds of years into the future.

So what is missing?

Still don’t see it? That’s ok, most people these days probably have no idea what is missing. See those bumps on top of the window. On the building that the architect was copying, those were very beautiful and meaningful symbols of the people and/or organizations that built the building. Over each window was a different achievement of arms (you may also have heard them called coat-of-arms, shields, or crests – Pars pro toto synecdoche). See the smooth, slightly rounded area that looks almost like a flower pot? On the original building, that was a shield like a knight would have carried. The area surrounding it should be animals and other symbols.

Each knight and noble during the middle ages would engrave and paint their own unique pattern of colors and symbols. Each pattern represented one and only one person at a time. If the symbol was passed down, it only went to one of the sons. The other sons could adopt a similar but unique design. This form of communication has been all but forgotten in the years since, but for a lover of history these symbols carry a lot of meaning.

So what happened?

Well, we never really had many knights or nobles in the Americas and within a few generations all the meaning behind the ornate forms were forgotten. As you explore various buildings throughout the US you will see many pathetic attempts to imitate the art of Europe. Artists (architects included) were sent to Europe to learn art from the “finest” schools in the world, and while they were there they learned art, but something was lost in the crossing of the Atlantic. Whether intentional or not, we lost all meaning behind the art. Heraldry, the science and art of coat armour, was forgotten.

What does all this mean?

Nothing?? The meaning had been removed. The art form had no function except to keep the eye entertained. It reminds me of the young wife who always cut the ends of her roast before putting it in the pan, until one day her husband ask about the strange practice. The next time she talked to her mom, she asked her why she always cut the ends of the roast. Her mother suggested that she ask her grandmother, but her grandmother was confused at first until she remember the very small roasting pan she used to have. She replied, “Well, I had to. The roast wouldn’t fit otherwise.”

The examples of processes we still follow years after the need is past, are nearly infinite. We have an electoral college rendered useless by a change in law, but still remaining. Every business more that a few years old has a legacy product numbering system. We still have ancient code at the core of Windows, and even Firefox is getting long in the tooth. We have the obama-idable English language with its impossible spelling and exceptions to the exceptions to the rules of grammar. Please feel free to add other examples processes without practicality and forms without function.

Imitation is the highest form of flattery

Or is it? If the imitator understands what they are imitating and why, it can be. But often an attempt at imitation will fall flat on its face because the imitator does not really understand the original. This is fine in speech or other places where the poor imitations will quickly disappear and be forgotten. It is a real problem when the poor imitation is set in stone.

Every failure gets you closer to success, and poor imitations and other failures are essential to learning. Just try not to make these errors in a form that will last a really long time.

Staying humble could actually protect your pride

I am not sure if the architect of the building was trying make his work look a little more austere, elegant, sophisticated, etc. when designing the window frame, but the majority of heraldic displays in the US (and many in the EU, too) are merely for show. They have no personal meaning. Those who understand heraldry, frequently alternate between laughter and shock at the ignorance of people trying to display their importance and intelligence while failing miserably and unwittingly.

Now I am left wondering how many times I have attempted a public display of intelligence without realizing that it was actually a public display of ignorance. The key to avoiding that is humility, so I should be fine since I am one of the most humble people on earth.

Well that about wraps it up for my submission to the March WILF group-write project. Once again, I am posting this too late for most of you to participate along with me (although I have heard rumor that he does accept late submissions occasionally). If you would like to participate next month, subscribe to the Middle Zone RSS feed and watch for the next WILF announcement. If you have no idea what that means, check out this quick introduction to RSS feeds.

Related posts:

1. What does this symbol mean to you? 2008-06-25
2. The medium versus the message
3. Blogging is a form of leadership
4. Learning to read
5. Chinese names for our family