The Danger Of Interpretation and Assigning Meaning.

Whole lives can be destroyed based on a person's 'knowing' of what they see in front of them. As you look about you in your life today, notice how many times a day you think you know something. How many times you observe something and assign meaning to it. Assign interpretation. How do you know what anything means? You can accurately see what's in front of you. In terms of your sensory perception. You can observe facts quite accurately. But after that, how can you tell what anything is?

For example, you meet a person who does not have a job. In your head, that means a certain thing. Can you step back from yourself enough to notice all the projections and assumptions you place on that one piece of information? Maybe because of the way you were raised, or the culture you were brought up in, not having a job means you are lower class. Lazy. Mentally ill. How can you be sure of anything, when given only some of the information? How can we trust ourselves to interpret anything correctly? And maybe, just maybe, we are not supposed to.

People often wax lyrical about how being a child was easier. Kids just get along with each other and are much less judgmental of who is in their company. Simply showing up and playing together. Maybe their evaluation system is something like this. Is this person nice to be around? Does this person make for a pleasant afternoon? Maybe that's incredibly valuable information? And may I add, a much simpler form of analysis. Instead of, analysing and assigning meaning to so much, that very very may well turn out to be incorrect.

We all know that we are hugely influenced by the way we were brought up. We are wired up to see people and situations a certain way. We have lenses upon lenses. We interpret a look someone gives us, a tone of voice, an action. How could we ever know we are correct? How many doors do we close on ourselves everyday, through our inaccurate meaning assignment!

So, what do we do? How about noticing it first. Observe yourself, not others. Observe how often you think you know so much. Question the meaning you place on everyday examples of life and living, of the people you meet. It also brings up the valuable idea of straight talking! How about asking the person what something means? Or communicating clearly about the situation. Asking, what does this mean? Clarifying the situation and spending time getting to know the person, based on your experience. Not on ideas you have about life and them. Would that not be far more clarifying then thinking we know everthing?