A Word Isn't an Object (Ch 2)

The word isn't the object. This is a weird concept, but a true one. Ever since we are little we are taught to make objects and their names interchangeable. Words make no sense unless they are standing in the place of some grander thing, either an object or an idea. The truth is though that not only are words not just the naming of objects but words are a way to explain things that are abstract. The more I look at semiotics, the more I appreciate the human mind. We can learn so much, and so many concepts that aren't concrete. We are taught at a young age to accept things that we can't see or even understand that well.
One of the main things that is pointed out in this chapter is that basically everything seems to be representing something else. Like the idea of the painting of the pipe and and the words "This is not a pipe" under it. Although the word pipe paints a picture of the object pipe in your head the word doesn't make the thing a pipe. The word is not a pipe but also the painting itself is not a pipe. I still have a hard time wrapping my brain around this idea because for so long I've been taught that really all of these things (the word, the picture, and the object) are interchangeable, granted you can't smoke a picture or a word, but they all have the same connotation although different values. Chapter 2 points out though that this is a mistake. Even if the signifier is realistic it cannot be mistaken for the signified. Only when we separate all of the signifiers from the signifieds can we truly understand the meanings of, well, anything.