Episode 339: The Meanings of Words
The point of communicating is to transfer thoughts from one person’s brain to another. In most forms of human communication, words are the tools we use. But if the two people don’t share common definitions of words, then communication becomes clouded. The most extreme case is when two people speak very different languages. But miscommunication often happens when both people speak the same language. If we hope to resolve, or at least come to peaceful disagreement, over topics from gun control to gender, we have to make a concerted effort to agree on definitions before debating the topics. Main…
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