I need to finish up my OSCon writeups, pulling my head around what I got, and will get, out of the week. In the meantime, in a recent conversation, Chris Dent tossed out a nice turn of phrase:
" meaning in the universe is revealed and created in a collaborative and evolutionary process."
This is part of a group discussion of Being There by Andy Clark (albeit a discussion that has wandered somewhat widely).
Posted by esinclai at July 30, 2002 06:38 AM |
Not having read the book, I'm purely sidelining here. How do we feel about this quote? Part of me wants to wear it on my shirt to yoga class. Part of me is tickled by the image of the universe in a "collaborative" process with giant white boards and dry-erase markers, figuring out meaning. Namaste.
Posted by: Anne on July 30, 2002 01:33 PMBoy I'd love to get in on this one. I have similar questions as Anne, I think. In fact, this turns up more questions than answers, so excuse me while...
[I haven't read the book either.]
IMO, meaning exists only as a perception by intelligent entities. For example, humans. So there IS meaning in the universe, but it is all the specific meanings within each human (or other entities capable of experiencing meaning).
But what is this collaborative and evolutionary process? Can we name it? Can we put bounds around it? Is it just the history of culture or is it something more?
And then come my questions of implication. Do we imply that all meaning is revealed/created as a part of this process? If so, how do meanings arrived at by Hanks' character in Castaway fit in?
Do we imply the existence of kinds of meaning larger than the individual meanings experienced by individual people? That leads to definitional questions on 'meaning'.
Posted by: Matt Liggett on August 1, 2002 12:12 PM