Nuance

nu·ance
ˈn(y)o͞oˌäns/
noun
noun: nuance; plural noun: nuances
  1. 1.
    a subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound.
    “the nuances of facial expression and body language”
    synonyms: fine distinction, subtle difference; More

verb
verb: nuance; 3rd person present: nuances; past tense: nuanced; past participle: nuanced; gerund or present participle: nuancing
  1. 1.
    give nuances to.
    “the effect of the music is nuanced by the social situation of listeners”
Origin
late 18th century: from French, ‘shade, subtlety,’ from nuer ‘to shade,’ based on Latin nubes ‘cloud.’

Google Dictionary

I really like nuance.  Maybe because I like shade?  I purposely walk down the shady sides of streets.  I even stand in the shade of stoplight posts while waiting to use the crosswalk.  I’m always amazed when I see people standing in the hot hot sun while there’s this beautiful little strip of relief right next to them.  Maybe I notice the shade because I hate the sun?  Well, hate is a strong word… it’s just that it’s rather strong and overbearing much of the time.  I know it’s necessary for life and all, but it can be so damn oppressive.  Sometime’s I can appreciate it though.  If it’s cold out and it’s not stabbing my eye’s.  Also if I want to go swimming, or need to dry my clothes.  It also helps trees to grow and I like trees, they give me shade…  Maybe I don’t hate the sun.

These are parts of my relationships with the sun, shade, and trees.  Nuance has everything to do with relationships.  It’s about detail; expressing or observing on increasingly finer scales.  When it comes to practice, there’s always something smaller that can be worked on.  One can practice basketball.  If you play a game, you’re practicing.  You can also scale down to do passing and shooting drills. Scaling down further might mean dribbling or simply running.  Even further might be standing on one foot and repetitively lifting on to your toes to strengthen the muscles that support the ankle.

Nuance also comes up with communication.  It might be one of the biggest casualties of social media.  I often say that I hate the sun.  Even though I’m expressing my feelings, it’s not completely accurate because it lacks the nuance that I displayed above.  Nuance has a lot to do with accuracy.

One reason for the necessity of this concept is because there are often seemingly contradictory truths that exist simultaneously.  One of my favorites is that, life is beautiful and life is rough.  It’s a favorite, because they are two statements that most people can agree on. With these “truths” in mind, I can almost always find some way to relate to anybody despite varying beliefs or experiences.  Recognizing both at once adds depth to life and understanding.

A lack of nuance in conversation almost always makes someone feel misunderstood.  It’s the blanket statements and generalizations, or the expression of feelings without accuracy of meaning “I hate the sun!”.  Nuance is often avoided or missing because it takes effort.  It can make my brain hurt trying to figure out how to accurately convey something in detail.  When I start trying, I quickly realize that the more detail I can go into, the more accurate it will be… unless I mess up.  It can also get overwhelming realizing that the practice of going into more detail often has the potential to go on indefinitely much like a fractal pattern.

One of the reasons I believe nuance is waning in our culture is because there is an increase in quick written communication, such as texting and social media, and a decrease in face to face communication.  When you don’t have the combined experience of facial expression, body language, tone of voice, and eye contact, there is a lack of reference and therefore a lack of accuracy.  It’s like a GPS with fewer satellites.  The other side of this is that misinformation can be more destructive to accuracy than a lack of information.  With information more widely available, misinformation is more abundant as well.  Nuance isn’t the exact same thing as accuracy but it can increase accuracy. With misinformation, it’s the nuanced truths that are the first to be obscured.  More expression doesn’t always make for more nuanced accuracy just as more color doesn’t necessarily make for a better painting, it eventually becomes a black out.  Therefore nuanced communication isn’t always more communication, it’s thoughtful communication with clear definitions.

Nuance is the changing of scale, the recognition of depth that is around us.  I like trees and there’s a relationship there.  When I learn about how they grow; photosynthesis, the flow of  water through their structure, the fungal network that helps to distribute nutrients throughout a forest; there becomes more depth to my relationship.  Also, if I begin to pay attention to the details of the tree, the bark and leaves; if I go smaller in scale with one tree, there will be a more intimate understanding.  This detailed attention will reveal micro ecosystems and structures of ever diminishing scale that can paint my perception of the tree.   Nuance is the path of never ending distinction, it’s the coloring in, the ornate detail, the shading… and it’s worth the effort.  And like all things, practice makes better.

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