The Symbolic Process

The process by means of which human beings can arbitrarily make certain things stand for other things may be called the symbolic process.

Everywhere we turn, we see the symbolic process at work. Stripes on the sleeve can be made to stand for military rank; rings of gold or pieces of paper can stand for wealth; crossed sticks can stand for a set of religious beliefs. There are few things that men do or want to do, possess or want to possess, that have not, in addiction to their mechanical or biological value, a symbolic value.

All fashionable clothes are highly symbolic: materials, cut and ornament are dictated only to a slight degree by considerations of warmth, comfort or practicability. The more we dress up in.fine clothes, the more we restrict our freedom of action.

Food is also highly symbolic. Specific foods are used to symbolize specific festivals. For example, moon cakes are eaten to celebrate the Chinese Mid-autumn Festival as the Chinese think that on the Mid-autumn Day (August 15th of the lunar year), the moon is at its brightest.

We select our furniture to serve as visible symbols of our taste, wealth and social position. We trade in perfectly good cars for later models not always to get better transportation, but to give evidence to the community that we can afford it.

I once had an eight-year-old car in good running condition. A friend of mine, a repairman who knew the condition of the car, kept urging me to trade it for a new model. "But why?" I asked, "The old car's in fine shape still," The repairman answered scornfully, "Yeah, but what the hell. All you've got is transportation."

Recently, the term "transportation car" has begun to appear in advertisements, for example, "4B Dodge—Runs perfectly well: transportation car. Leaving, must sell. $100". Apparently it means a car that has no symbolic value and is good only for getting you there and bringing you back—a poor kind of vehicle indeed!