Fronteza

Understanding incomprehendable

In some cases we tend to misunderstand the message which someone wants to communicate to us. The ostensibly weird context of the message makes one think that it’s a philosophical mess. Others comprehend a kind of secret that the author wants to communicate. Others comprehend the message literally and the very small number of people gets to the true meaning of the message.

The world views, the available knowledge and understanding of the current environment take the part in comprehending the message and discovering its true meaning. The generally used wording “a child of one’s time” is very right in this case. In the most of cases it’s the judging factor but in some cases the problem with understanding is in quite different.

Sometimes we tend to understand the wording literally i.e. without even trying to apply our knowledge of the current environment and of the known problem’s causes to treat the wording properly. Saying that, I do not mean the incomplete messages which are beloved by politicians so much, such as “We will raise wages and reduce taxes” or the same message with the addition of “…in the nearest future”.

Such the incomplete messages are good for the propaganda, pre-election campaign. Do not confuse it with the art of suspension which is used to create the atmosphere of secrecy and tension – it is beloved by detective stories, thrillers, etc.

In the above example, when someone says that s/he “will raise wages and reduce taxes”, we cannot determine the exact period when it will be completed. It can be completed within this year or in 4 years, before the next elections. The addition of “…in the nearest future” does nothing but creates the feeling of some definitely upcoming event, but again we do not know nothing about the exact period. All we know that it will happen in the nearest future, which can be spanned with every day slipping by.

The common problem of our modern age is that, as distinct from the Middle Ages, we are used to understanding wordings literally and in isolation from the current times and environment. This problem also occurs when we try to analyze the ancient wordings and stories in isolation from and without proper understanding of the times when they have been created. We may treat some allegorical wordings literally or comprehend them through the prism of our current world views which nowadays are defined by the strict determinism, because of the technological and scientific times we are living in.

So, what we need to do in order to comprehend the true meaning of the message? To the certain extent of course, because only the author can comprehend it properly, though this is not a rule. We need to understand three key parts: the personality of author, the times and world views, the problem.

For example, let’s scrutinize my previous message, the wording about the European Union and the USA in particular. I’m sure that each of you, my honored readers, comprehended it in your own way. Thus, you created a new chain of world views and may be a new chain of events: I sowed seeds in different soils. Here it is: “But what has worked for the United States of America will hardly ever work for the Plain Old Europe”. Well, let’s keep the author’s personality in secret and just say that he took the objective and neutral position. We need to apply two other parts: the times and the problem.

Without diving into details, the times tell us that the current situation of the European Union is very shaky and that it is going to pieces due to the miscalculations made in the past by politicians. The problem is encoded in the message itself. Not for nothing I mentioned the idea of the United States of Europe and said that what has worked for the United States of America will hardly ever work for the Plain Old Europe. I highlighted the key parts. Here the question is not in the form but in the way of action.

Literally, you may comprehend that the Europe cannot be united. But the true message, in the unveiled context, actually means that European leaders has deviated from the original path and chosen improper approaches of unification. The idea of the Europe as “the Open Society” has miscalculations, will lead to the ultimate fall-out of the Plain Old Europe and to the reduction of its true political and economic strength. What we are actually observing.

So, who said we need the superfine encryption system to communicate messages?