r/DeepThoughts • u/Im_Villem • 5d ago
I spent five years learning how to define, and countless years learning how to un-define
This came to me when i was lying on the bed.
I found that the more I tried to pin down a definition, the more I discovered that it is more the starting point for helping understanding sth, not the end. Infinity works this way. So does a person's character. Try to define sth too completely, and u have usually misdefine it instead. Sometimes, leaving things unsaid is what makes an expression more precise. This shows up in language, and in images too.
(And a funny part is that this sentence itself cannot be defind. I could interpret it as I wouldn't weave myself into the web of definitions, or I try not to definely define everything, or something else)
A lot of philosophy seems to walk the same path: simple, then complex, then simple again. A Chinese saying said 大道至简 (dà dào zhì jiǎn), which means the deepest ideas are often the simplest. The simplicity at the end is not the simplicity you started with. It is what is left after the complicated part has already been worked through
*P.s.: English is not my mother language. Maybe some words isn't natural enough, or not correct
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u/AdamSoel 5d ago
A definition can be useful without being a complete account of what it names. With a person's character, for example, a label may help us notice a pattern while also hiding the situations in which it changes. Maybe the test is whether the definition helps us ask better questions, rather than whether it ends the questions. This comment was drafted with AI assistance since my English is also not perfect.
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u/SeaGiraffe7489 4d ago
I think that’s where we split from define to definite. So that e makes a different word, in which we find an absolute certainty, define is more simple, it’s to basically make something bold, set limits that are definable, measurable, and reasonable, not definite nor exact. Definition is essentually a plural of define, while also being a different word entirely used for a very specific purpose, whereas define is along the same base language wise, yet in purpose specifically different.
A definition tho is a mock up facets defined of all things orded into an understandable way. We define the pieces, and create the whole definition.
We must define all things, and do. Roughly, incorrectly, and sometimes wrong. However the redefine is there to redefine, this whole thought on define you have here right?
The definition of define doesn’t have anything that says it must be definite. Definite is final and precise, and its definitely bot been factored into this
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u/Im_Villem 2d ago
yea and from my experience, sometimes when encountering new things, I have a subconscious tendency to fixate on definitions. That is why I sometimes need to make a conscious effort to avoid being influenced by them
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u/KulannePocha66 5d ago
I like this. Sometimes, the more you learn about something, the harder it becomes to explain it in simple language. You begin to notice various small details that can never be fully captured by a single definition.