Fascinating. I wish I had discovered the interesting complexities of language earlier in life. German class in high school just didn't resonate with me. It wasn't until I moved to Budapest and started learning Hungarian, and talking with people who study linguistics, that I figured out these are the greatest detective stories in the world! So much crazy complexity and beautiful artistry and foibles of human understanding... they're all laid bare when you study language. Maybe if I'd found linguistics earlier I would have ... well ... made far less money as an academic, studying dusty texts covered with psychedelic molds... ...hmmmm...
Your description is a perfect one for why I love this stuff. I was fortunate in that I have a gift for learning language, and so it was far less frustrating for me than for many of my classmates. This in turn meant that I could see the things you talked about. I've also come to realize more and more that I'm a systems person: I'm most interested in those things where it's a matter of watching interlocking parts.