Showing posts with label ' 'perfection'. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ' 'perfection'. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Meaning without context

Does ANYthing have meaning without context?

Been playing with words (again) lately; laughing at misuse, colloquialisms, bad pronunciation... 

Also into graffiti (not only spray paint, but slogans, slurs, limericks in Sharpie on the underground ads). Nothing mind-bending; in fact, I'd taken a little time-off for my mind...it was refreshingly ordinary without seeming mundane. 

Singing in Hebrew for Danny tonight must've gotten my subs a-stirring... Came home, flickred for a while, ate nachos with Framboise. Had some cereal. And some Hershey's kisses. Ok: a LOT of Hershey's kisses.

But the word 'perfect' came into my head (from a previous journal entry about 'perfection' as 'ideally suited' not 'inherently flawless').  Also, then, the word 'chosen'--that some feel guilty about and try to explain away. Why do people only see this word as 'the zenith of all options' rather than 'the best option suited to a particular task'? (Think: hammer vs. screwdriver-- I 'choose' which to use based on the purpose for which it's been designed and what my current needs are, not the inherent 'betterness' of one tool over the other.)

Then I started thinking about other words--but silly things like "poncho" (as in: a raincoat/slicker or : that cop on Chips). How about 'rich'? My kids would say 100 pennies is 'rich'; I would probably say $100,000 is more like it. But Mr. Fancypants CEO might say $40 million.  "Home"--castle, hut, prefab, lean-to, teepee, tree, plantation?

Can we perceive motion without a reference object to measure it against?

Can we perceive any meaning without context? Can any word, thing, idea, image, feeling have meaning without context?