Let's talk about meaning

[coberst]

Let’s talk about meaning

A few days ago I received a note from my grandson J. J said he had decided to join the Army Reserves. At that moment there developed a new connection between the Iraq war and me. At that moment the Iraq war became meaningful to me in a way far different from what it might have been before.

Meaning happens when there develops a confluence of emotion and knowledge such that a domain of knowledge becomes part of me. Meaning happens when a domain of knowledge becomes a vital part of me.

I witness on TV a mother crying because her son is missing; I immediately resonate with a feeling that is somewhat like that of the mother, I sympathize with that mother. I do not need to go to any effort to place myself into the shoes of that mother.

But suppose I see on TV a mother proudly embracing the death of her son, the suicide bomber. Empathy can happen when I try to create an analogy in my imagination that will allow me to understand what another person feels. To understand that mother I must make a significant effort to place myself into the shoes of that mother. If I am successful I can then say I understand that mother.

Understanding is the creation of meaning; it is a subjective happening when there develops a confluence of emotion and knowing that might be regarded as a tipping point. It happens in a moment and often only after a good bit of effort. We know many things but understand only a few.

Our schools and colleges teach us what to know but seldom have anything to say about understanding. In our world of production and consumption understanding is a luxury that we must work at to achieve.

Question for discussion

Do you experience things that I call understanding or do you think that understanding and meaning are something entirely different from what I have defined here?