Meaning is not carried by the words, it’s carried by your mind. We assume that we assign the same meanings, but that’s a big assumption.
These online conversations, composed of words and only words, are arguably 99% us just talking to ourselves. Maybe even 100%.
This is why a lot of academic papers outside of science start with a definition of used terms with citations.
Makes sense. If we try, if we are careful, the quality of our communication can be vastly improved.
In my own particular field I often first try to ensure that all participants in the conversation share the same experience.
That’s a pretty tall order. How do you confirm that you objectively share the same experience if you can only ever access your own subjective experience?
You could stand next to the guy while you both look at the relevant thing. That’s a pretty good way.
Another way would be to use the same method for looking at the relevant thing. Let’s call it “an experimental method”. Because it delivers an experience.
What does water taste like?
Get a glass of water and taste it. It tastes like that.
But how would I know if our experience of the taste of water is the same?
Because it’s water.
You’d have to settle for close enough here. You might even drink from the same glass. Beyond that … until we invent telepathy.
This is my point. We can’t do it exactly, we just approximate. With every single experience we have, we can only approximately communicate it to other people. But here’s the kicker: does thinking about the taste of water feel like you’re actually drinking water? If you were parched in a desert, would thinking about water really hard actually bring the experience of water? Obviously not.
Once you have experienced something, thinking back to it, you are already kind of approximating it to yourself. You can’t manifest the exact experience even for yourself. Let alone to others.
I’m just highlighting this because it’s a pretty significant thing to get in this world where we are communicating by text a lot, and being very quick to judge other people’s experiences. Not saying you’re doing that though.