One of the early articles on this blog is about language, words and their meanings. It is called “Our Language is a Mess”. That can make us wonder what to do about it. Where do we get if we demand a clear and unique meaning for every word? That every human shall have the same picture in their head, the same Vorstellung, when hearing a word? Is that a realistic goal? Will there be no more misunderstandings as a result?
In our daily life we often connect words directly with something specific, with a Vorstellung that we have. We hear “cup” and we immediately have a picture in front of our eyes. Are we instructed to go get a cup, then we already know what cups we will find, if we are in a known environment. If we also know the person who asked for the cup, then we probably know which cup they prefer and we can deliver the desired object, no matter how many different cups there are. A bit more difficult it will be in an unknown house with unknown people. There will probably be different cups. Maybe there are only special, old cups, that we have never seen before. Still we will recognize them as cups. How is that possible? You might say it is because they are similar. That is true. But the true reason is our understanding of the concept of a cup. We know the relevant features of a cup, we know what it is used for. We know what characteristics it must have, what needs to be possible. As a result we know what matters to identify a resemblance, and that is why we can recognize something we have never seen as a cup.
That example is maybe too simple to point out the importance of concepts. Maybe you would say that you can also recognize a cup without knowing the concept and without knowing what it is good for. Simply because of the similarity in appearance. But let us take a moment and consider: If I do not know the concept of a cup, I have never seen a cup getting used, never seen someone drink out of a cup, never seen someone pour in a liquid into a cup. Because as soon as I see that, I will start to grasp and integrate the concept of a cup. If I have not done that, I will not know what is important for a cup. It could be the color, the gold decorations at the edge. It could be the sound it makes when knocking on it. Then I do not know what features I must compare to declare a similarity or a significant difference.
I wish to direct your attention towards the concepts behind the specific pictures that we so often connect to words. Those concepts are hiding behind the pictures, behind our Vorstellung. The true purpose of words is to name concepts, not Vorstellung. That is why it can be so difficult to describe a picture with words. That is why there is a big difference between reading a book and watching a movie. When reading a book, many more abilities are required and trained. In a book we read words, and based on those words we must create the pictures on our own. To do that, we often use our Vorstellung, which we have attached directly to the words. We build the described world in our mind using our imagination. To do so, we can make use of all the Vorstellung that we already have in our experience. We rearrange and combine specific things we know as needed to match the description. We will put together new things that we have never seen before. We also need to make choices, because we often have many specific things connected to a word. However, it will also become necessary to switch to the concept level, so we do not loose any important features when we arrange new things. None of this needs to be done when we watch a movie. We simply get finished pictures delivered, do not need to find or select our own Vorstellung. That is not entirely true, also a movie contains spoken words and sometimes written text. Then we must become active again. But we only get the time the movie gives us, unless we press the pause button. When reading, we can take the time we need to transform the written words into a living world.
When I start to think about concepts behind the words, my understanding can grow beyond my interpretation of a word, grow beyond the Vorstellung that I already have. I can create new individual representations of the concept. Then it becomes easier to dive into someone else’s mind, get an understanding of their Vorstellung, which they have connected to the words. When I know the concept I can adjust and rearrange my Vorstellung without loosing the concept. I can react to a deviating Vorstellung that another person has connected to a word in a flexible way. That is essential for the art of communication. It is not about having all humans connect the exact same Vorstellung to each word. It is about knowing the concept hiding behind the word and Vorstellung, and about using it as a link to continuously develop our understanding. When we create a new Vorstellung in this process, we use our imagination to do so.
Concepts are universal. They allow for an unlimited number of variations, each one true to the concept. All snow flakes are different, but all of them are clearly snowflakes. All humans are different, but all of them are clearly humans. Everything nature creates is a unique realization of a concept. Before industrialization, it was the same for everything build by humans. Now we like to build many copies to make things cheaper – but still, we like variation. There are about as many different variations of cups available as we have copies of a single design. Anyway, concepts are universal – we can agree on them, if we put effort into it. And yes, we should all aim to use the same word for a concept, if we want to communicate successfully. When we start using a word for two or more different concepts, action is required as well.