I think it's also a reference to Chekhov's gun. It's a literary technique that involves presenting something seemingly irrelevant in the first act that is later revealed to be important. The basic idea is to not place any material into a plot that is meaningless. Everything has to be symbolized. Everything has to be significant; hence, don't place a loaded gun in the first act if you're not going to fire it.
I think it definitely has to do with symbolism and how sometimes the symbols themselves become too much of the focus rather than the actual intentions. All religions revolve around faith but use different symbols to represent that faith.
I think Geoff is suggesting that symbols and metaphors can be powerful tools for conceptualizing and understanding the world. Without them we'd be walking around in a silent place with no names for anything, but at the same time when symbols rule our lives they lose their inherent meaning. The louder the ring, the more showy it is, the less it actually represents.
I think it's also a reference to Chekhov's gun. It's a literary technique that involves presenting something seemingly irrelevant in the first act that is later revealed to be important. The basic idea is to not place any material into a plot that is meaningless. Everything has to be symbolized. Everything has to be significant; hence, don't place a loaded gun in the first act if you're not going to fire it.
I think it definitely has to do with symbolism and how sometimes the symbols themselves become too much of the focus rather than the actual intentions. All religions revolve around faith but use different symbols to represent that faith.
I think Geoff is suggesting that symbols and metaphors can be powerful tools for conceptualizing and understanding the world. Without them we'd be walking around in a silent place with no names for anything, but at the same time when symbols rule our lives they lose their inherent meaning. The louder the ring, the more showy it is, the less it actually represents.