In finishing up The Word Is Not The Thing I discovered some interesting things that come about while playing through it. For instance, in our lives, do words like 'starving' and 'poverty' get in the way of seeing those things for what they actually are? Do we use these words to escape from what actually is? And in this escape do we think we're doing something about it, yet aren't doing anything at all? 

If we saw someone who is miserable, would putting words to describe what we see make us feel more or would it make us feel less? Words can act as a means of avoiding the intensity of the actual feeling, helping ease our discomfort. Some feelings make us uncomfortable after all. In The Word Is Not The Thing you get a chance to go into these things and find out for yourself, both in the game and ultimately outside it, in your own life.

So we may feel for a starving child, but as soon as we put words, classification and labels, do we still feel as intensely as we would if we saw clearly without the words? So do words get in the way? And if they do, what would you do if you saw things clearly?