John Hoang
@jhoang
Why is it so easy to signal things like wokeness, left-leaning, or right-leaning, but so hard to signal the pursuit of meaning, building something that will last, or that you're a hopeless romantic?
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Ferj
@ferj
Political ideologies are easy to signal because all you have to do is speak the same language, share the same articles, and carry the same values of the desired in-group of your choice. Embracing tribalism is just an easier way to develop our sense of identity, which influences what we end up signaling to the world.
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John Hoang
@jhoang
Damn, this means we haven’t created a language for meaning. We don’t write articles because no one values meaning.
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moreReese
@morereese
True mainstream rhetoric is limiting wrt what can be expressed within the narrow confines of it. But IMO language is all about meaning. Written language in particular is one of the richest sets of symbols we have for sense-making, and, second to action perhaps, one of the primary means through which value is expressed.
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John Hoang
@jhoang
I totally agree. We can create new words. I do think it’s difficult right now to express simply what it is that I find meaningful.
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moreReese
@morereese
Have you tried capturing what you find meaningful in raw, stream-of-conscience words? Even if it comes out complex and seemingly incoherent? fwiw, expressing simply what I find meaningful is one of the most challenging endeavors. Finding meaning and expressing it (especially simply) takes loads of courage and work.
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