We emphasize that such a form of communication is not absent in

Host: The room was bathed in a quiet light, the shadows stretching long as the evening settled in. Jack sat at his desk, flipping through a worn journal, his fingers pausing on a page, deep in thought. Jeeny sat nearby, leaning against the window, watching the last traces of daylight slip away. The silence between them was filled with the unspoken energy of a question lingering in the air.

Jeeny: (gently) “You’ve been quiet for a while. What’s on your mind?”

Jack: (looking up, his expression thoughtful) “I was just reading something by Jacques Lacan. He said, ‘We emphasize that such a form of communication is not absent in man, however evanescent a naturally given object may be for him, split as it is in its submission to symbols.’ It’s one of those lines that makes you pause. It’s about how humans communicate, how we try to make sense of the world around us.”

Host: Jeeny’s expression shifts, curiosity piqued by the complexity of the quote. She shifts in her chair, her attention fully on Jack as she waits for him to explain further. The quiet in the room deepens, the weight of Lacan’s words hanging between them.

Jeeny: (carefully) “It’s like he’s saying that communication is part of who we are, but it’s fragmented, split into pieces. We try to express something, but it’s always distorted by symbols, by the language we use. Even when we try to speak clearly, there’s something lost in translation.”

Jack: (nodding slowly) “Yeah, that’s exactly it. Lacan is saying that our natural understanding of the world is broken by the way we communicate. The world, as we perceive it, is divided and filtered through symbols — words, images, signs — and in that process, the pure essence of what we’re trying to express is lost, or at least shifted.”

Host: The room feels more still now, as the conversation shifts into deeper, more abstract territory. Jeeny stands up and moves toward the desk, her fingers lightly brushing over a few of the scattered pages, reflecting on the complexity of Lacan’s thought.

Jeeny: (softly) “It’s like we’re constantly trying to capture something that’s impossible to fully express. We speak, we write, we gesture — but the thing we’re trying to communicate is always one step beyond us. And maybe, in that gap, is where meaning gets created, even though it’s never fully complete.”

Jack: (thoughtfully) “Exactly. It’s this idea that no matter how much we try to convey, there’s always a part of it that’s beyond our reach. The more we try to put it into words, the more it slips away. But it doesn’t mean communication is absent. It’s there, but it’s always in the form of a symbol, a stand-in for something we can never completely grasp.”

Host: Jeeny sits back down, her eyes scanning the pages in front of her. There’s a deep, unspoken understanding forming between them, as if the complexity of Lacan’s words has unlocked something. The quiet in the room is filled with reflection — the recognition that language, in its efforts to communicate, often distorts the very thing we want to express.

Jeeny: (quietly) “It’s kind of beautiful, in a way. That communication, even when imperfect, still carries meaning. It’s like we’re always reaching for something more, even if we can never fully grasp it. And maybe that’s the point — the search for meaning itself is what gives it value.”

Jack: (smiling slightly) “Yeah, it’s like we’re constantly on the edge of understanding, always trying to cross that gap. And maybe it’s in that struggle, that tension between what we can say and what we can’t, that we find the depth of communication.”

Host: The room feels warmer now, as if the conversation itself has bridged the gap between thought and understanding. Outside, the light has faded into twilight, but inside, there’s a quiet clarity — the recognition that communication, though flawed, is at the core of what connects us to the world and to each other.

Jeeny: (smiling softly) “So maybe we don’t need to have perfect communication. We just need to keep trying, to keep reaching, even when it’s always just out of our grasp.”

Jack: (nodding) “Exactly. It’s the effort, the constant striving, that creates meaning. The gap is never something to fear — it’s where we find our connection.”

Host: The room settles into a comfortable silence, filled with a sense of understanding — that communication is never complete, but in its imperfection, it carries the potential for connection, for meaning, for the beautiful tension between what we know and what we seek to understand.