this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2024
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.
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That is a bit how humans always explained human experiences - by explaining it through how modern technology works.
Years ago it were mechanical mechanisms that explained how we think. Before that it was a pinhole camera. Today it is information technology.
But that‘s not how humans think, interact, and live in the world. You’re model doesn’t explain why some people are boring and some are meszmerising. Some spoken words can resonate with your body and emotion (think of songs) some not. Some people such as Italians speak with hands and gestures as well and need it to understand the other.
That‘s why for me web calls are okay for just some information sharing but when it comes to even more intense and effective exchange, humans have to be in one room - to be in wave.
With just showing an idea, the problem is that humans aren’t in your head and see the world through the windows of the eyes (pinhole camera concept). Humans interact and move and see the world. That’s btw one of the breakthroughs in robotics - moving robots can much better interact with the world.
I appreciate your thoughtful response, but I think you may have slightly missed what I meant by that. My point was about the inherent limitations of language as a medium for conveying abstract ideas, not necessarily about how humans interact with one another on a more deeper level.
Language, while powerful, is inherently concrete. Words and phrases are symbols that stand in for the ideas, emotions, and experiences we want to share. But just like a photograph of a beautiful view, language can’t fully capture the essence of what we’re trying to communicate. When we translate an abstract idea into words, some nuance or richness is inevitably lost, much like how a 2D image can’t convey the full depth, sound, and emotion of the original scene.
You’re absolutely right that human interaction involves much more than just words, like body language, tone, and physical presence all play roles in communication. And that’s exactly why being in the same room as someone can create a richer, more immersive exchange. But even in those situations, we’re still mostly using language to translate our thoughts into something the other person can understand. The point I was making is about the gap between the abstract idea and its expression through language and how something can get lost in translation, regardless of how well we try to convey it.
Showing an idea, rather than explaining it, would therefor be equivalent to letting the person experience that beautiful view first-hand rather than via a photograph. It may still not have the same effect on them than it had on you, but atleast now you're both thinking about the same thing.