M-m-meaning! Let's define, is it 'meaning' or 'Meaning', or if there's any at all... - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Lyta_Underhill · 08-16-2005, 09:31 AM

You forgot to include an entry for "meaning as the output of a schizophrenic monkey typing random phrases on an ancient manual typewriter as part of a larger experiment to prove that meaning does not, in fact, exist!"

Certainly meaning can change, even from moment to moment, and this would speak to the interaction of the source with the reader, editor, etc. etc. And perhaps one version of perceived "meaning" can also be the result of incomplete information, another the result of too much and conflicting information. The 'meaning' derived from a reader of "Lord of the Rings" in the 1960's will be different from the 'meaning' gleaned from one steeped in HoME as supplement to the original work as it stood at first. And certainly, opinions can change, so too, can 'meaning.' I am particularly fond of the signature quote of davem's for that reason as well:

Quote:

'The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water & breeds reptiles of the mind'...William Blake

Watch out for those reptiles! They bite and write and speak, walk and talk! I also have a saying that sounds to most people naive when I tell them, but which seems true to me the more I think about it, and that is: "Everything is true." Most people believe that I am a sucker and easily fooled after I say that, and one even offered me some land in Florida...but that's beside the point. I think everything has meaning, even those things that eventually prove false or irrelevant; but they, in their turn, have referential meaning to the culture or mind that produced them. Otherwise we wouldn't have remembered cultural phenomena of 'eras' and 'mindsets,' the paranoia of 'Cold War philosophies,' mass UFO-sightings, popular cults, etc. etc...am I showing my crackpot nature a little too much here? The point of my seemingly meaningless ramble is that meaning is where it is found, and it is everywhere. Maybe 'significance' is also being intertwined here with 'meaning.'

I think I'll stop now so that the coffee can reach my brain!

Cheers!
Lyta

View Poll Results: The 'real meaning' of the Lord of the Rings is to be found in:
The Author's intent	2	7.14%
The Reader's individual opinion	6	21.43%
Mainstream Reader consensus	0	0%
The BarrowDowns Book Forum consensus	2	7.14%
A Glimpse of Divine Truth	1	3.57%
The Reader's collaboration with both the Author's intent and the opinions of others	4	14.29%
Divine Truth glimpsed by the individual Reader guided by the Author's intent	3	10.71%
It does not have to have a 'meaning' at all, the books are entertaining, and that's sufficient	5	17.86%
All of the above may be true up to an extent	5	17.86%
Current poll does not cover all possible options at all, we need another, refined one [if you choose this answer, please list other possible options in the thread. Thank you]	0	0%
Voters: 28. You may not vote on this poll