More on the Semantic World

Describing the semantic world is difficult without going into deconstruction-speak, where words start taking quotations and "meaning" becomes ""meaning"" until nothing means anything. But it's a lot more simple than that.

The semantic world is about the associations we bring to abstractions. The pictures we create when we hear a word.

"I like drugs."

If I were to follow that with, "Penicillin is my favorite," you'd be surprised but not confused. I simply took a word with multiple meanings and used it in its less-popular form.

"He lost his toes to frostbite in Africa." Africa, in the understanding we share, is not a place to get frostbite. At the mention of Africa, you might get a picture of the sweltering Congo or the sun-baked Sahara but probably not the frosty peaks of Mt. Kilimanjaro. It's possible to get frostbite in Africa but we don't think of it.

The semantic world is the foundation of culture. Culture is having the same associations to the same subjects.

This is obvious but understanding the semantic world is vital at those places where we meet the unknown. "Undefined" is a better term. Are the lights in the woods spirits or the eyes of Vulpes vulpes? Is this investment risky or a sure thing?

The semantic world is a map of our entire environment, physical, mental and beyond. Mississippi is full of rednecks. The Ivy League is full of idiots. Heaven is full of souls.

The semantic world is where we argue. Are people that sleep in the street homeless or bums? Are some of them addicts or debauchees?

Generally, over a long time, the semantic map approaches reality. There are no arguments over what constitutes cheese, for example. The heart is a four-chambered organ. Jerry is a homeless addict--he keeps going to treatment but can't keep a job or pay his rent. Jim is a debauched bum--he tried to smuggle wine into the shelter.

A false understanding of the abstract can only be maintained by studied avoidance of the concrete. That which makes the most sense wins, even if it's later rather than sooner.