Words and Their Meanings

[columbus]

Such contemptible manipulation deserves no response beyond the rejection of it.

But for some reason Jay got a post on the internet anyway.

Tom

 

[Desert Snake]

Those are good points, but why do you suppose so many of us are ready to assert that our own favored meanings for words are their only legitimate meanings?

Dictionaries help.

 

[Sunstone]

Dictionaries help.

Sometimes. But dictionaries are merely compilations of how words are used by people. That is, they don't tell us how words ought to be used, but merely how words are used.

 

[Sunstone]

Ego, ego, and more ego.

That would be my guess as well.

 

[Vinayaka]

That would be my guess as well.

Behaviour wise, it generally manifests as an inability to listen, or in this case on a forum, the inability to read and make an effort to cognise other's words. I'm guilty of it too. I think some are more guilty than others though. We're so used to deciding what we want to say next that we don't have time to cognise stuff. If both sides are like that, then both feel the other isn't listening to them. As a neutral observer, it's almost funny.

 

[Sunstone]

As a neutral observer, it's almost funny.

Indeed, I suppose it's funny the first thousand or so times. But like most jokes, it can outwear its humor.

Another thing I've noticed -- and I also attribute this to ego -- is what seems a tendency to pick a meaning for ambiguous terms and sentences that casts the other person's ideas in the worse possible light.

So, for instance, if someone uses the term "evil", and it is not perfectly clear what they mean by that word, then someone else might come along and choose to interpret "evil" in a sense that makes the former person's point look weak or ridiculous.

I think that's sometimes done unintentionally, too.

 

[Vinayaka]

I think that's sometimes done unintentionally, too.

I think in debates, whether political ones, or on here, it can a well thought out and trained strategy. Lawyers are trained to do everything possible to be able to speak last. Course, if you're not into debating, it doesn't really matter.

Certain words are also politically 'hot'. They will be overused by politicians. I don't know what the 'hot' words are in religious debate.

 

[Sunstone]

I think in debates, whether political ones, or on here, it can a well thought out and trained strategy. Lawyers are trained to do everything possible to be able to speak last. Course, if you're not into debating, it doesn't really matter.

Good point. I had largely forgotten how often it's an intentional strategy or tactic in debate. Just on a personal level, Vinayaka, do you find it cheap?

 

[Vinayaka]

Good point. I had largely forgotten how often it's an intentional strategy or tactic in debate. Just on a personal level, Vinayaka, do you find it cheap?

I don't generally debate, but prefer the walk away. Generally debate doesn't change anyone's mind. Certainly not mine, I'm 60 years old and too stuck in my ways.

But I do find it frustrating in discussions when parties can't stop long enough to at least attempt to agree on exactly what they are discussing. Words like 'meditation', 'dharma' and even 'Hindu' are particularly frustrating in my circles.

I think other religious words must be like that for others. But maybe all abstract nouns like 'wealth' for example may be equally cumbersome.

 

[Vinayaka]

I don't generally debate, but prefer the walk away. Generally debate doesn't change anyone's mind. Certainly not mine, I'm 60 years old and too stuck in my ways.

But I do find it frustrating in discussions when parties can't stop long enough to at least attempt to agree on exactly what they are discussing. Words like 'meditation', 'dharma' and even 'Hindu' are particularly frustrating in my circles.

I think other religious words must be like that for others. But maybe all abstract nouns like 'wealth' for example may be equally cumbersome.

But yes it's a cheap tactic. On a former committee I was on, two people intentionally tried to speak last. What a ridiculous waste of my and other's time!

 

[Sunstone]

But I do find it frustrating in discussions when parties can't stop long enough to at least attempt to agree on exactly what they are discussing.

I think it could improve discussions dramatically if we would all do that when it was appropriate.