this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2024
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Consider the words on the screen. There are two sources of information.

  1. The words, how they're arranged and such.

  2. The meaning that you assign to the words. Meaning drawn from a lifetime of memories.

99% of the information comes from the assigned meaning. So 99% of what's going on here is you talking to yourself.

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[–] beliquititious@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

The Treachery of Images by René Margritte

The text in the painting reads "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" which (more or less) translates to "This is not a pipe." What Margritte is saying is that literally it is not a pipe, it is a painting of a pipe. But it's also not just a painting of a pipe, it is an image of what Margritte holds as his internal concept of a pipe.

Communicating complex ideas to others is difficult because words hold different meanings for different people and the more nuanced the more language starts to get in the way. But all communication is imperfect.

It's not solipsistic though because much of the meaning you might hold for words is contextual to the people who taught you language and your relationships with others. Your conception of those word's meanings are your interpretation of the meaning someone else holds. Language and communication are much more effective viewed from the perspective of collaboration rather than expression. In other words working to establish shared understanding makes communication more effective.