It's all about definition

Topic: It's all about definition

Category : Defining this blog

Definition/description: The phrase "It's all about definition" is a phrase that I've written into my first mobile phone's welcome screen. The inspiration of this phrase is that while doing science classes, the first to be done in order to learn about a phenomenon, is to first define it.

With that thought in mind, it sort of dawns upon me that life and its value, it's all to be determined by how you define it. A bit similar to what a programmer would do at the beginning of his coding, he would define parameters, and then set about his business to instruct the electrons to do his bidding.

Research : A quick look at wikipedia's entry on Definition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition) shows that definition is not a simple affair. I shall not repeat what is discussed or described there, but I shall attempt to put it into my own words. The whole complexity of definition, I think is mainly due to the fact that it is a part of language. It is the source of our vocabulary, to describe anything and everything.

Discussion: The interesting bit here (to me at least), is that taking a look into language, it is sort of a standard that we have all (speakers of a language) agreed to ascribe a certain meaning to certain words. Therefore, when making definitions, it is sort of a pact or agreement to describe a certain thing/phenomenon/action in a common way.

From time to time, any particular definition fails to describe these items properly, and in that case, we normally have people who are better versed in the particular field of study, to better describe a definition. I think this kind of specialization are what we are seeing in our society nowadays, each specific field having its own unique jargons and language, that persons not involved in the field would typically find it difficult to comprehend.

From an interesting bit, it now becomes sort of a problem, as knowledge and information become more and more specific to certain fields, we are less and less able to comprehending all the goings on, worse still, we have to make decisions that could have a series of long repercussions in the face of this inability.

Therefore, my personal solution is to then at a certain point, define the criteria of decision for myself, to define for myself, what would bring the best outcome for me. Thereby, cutting out the noise, and reducing the chunk of information needed to be processed.

Conclusion: Well, if you can define your path to happiness and joy and even to misery, then it is up to you to choose what to do with it. But...

“When you have come to the edge of all the light you have and step into the darkness of the unknown. Believe that one of the two will happen to you. Either you'll find something solid to stand on or you'll be taught how to fly!”
- Richard Bach -