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my Focus Writing about meaning, love, and happiness stems from my desire to understand these parts of life more deeply and impart anything I can to others. I will admit that this can be a frustrating task at times because I feel like I can never reach these noble natures. Words are always insufficient. For a long time, I believe At some point- Maybe after writing a million words - I was finally able to fully express what I was looking for.
The philosopher Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein died in 1951 and he might tell me that I was barking the wrong tree. Writer and philosopher Bertrand Russell calls Wittgenstein's work "perhaps the most perfect example I've called is the traditionally conceived, passionate, profound, strong and dominant genius," but Wittgenstein doesn't leave us much. He only published one philosophy book in his life Treaty Logic - Philosophyitself only has about 75 pages. Wittgenstein explains in it that language can never convey the deepest understanding of life. “My language limitationsHe wrote, “It refers to the limits of my world.”
Wittgenstein undoubtedly realized the irony of making this argument through language. But doing so, he offers a way Exceed After all, speak and understand the indescribable nature we seek.
Arthur C. Brooks: The Ultimate German Philosophy
hUman Communication As social scientists have long observed, there are misunderstandings. The researchers are Journal of Experimental Social Psychology In 2011, people misunderstood what others mean, especially among close acquaintances such as family and friends. Scholars have found that people who talk to strangers communicate more clearly than they do with close colleagues – undeniably, the latter understands ambiguous phrases because of their intimacy. So, what chances will you correctly grasp the next thing your spouse tells you? Digital communication makes the situation worse because it eliminates nonverbal cues.
An explanatory psychologist provides a common cause of misunderstandings, which is motivated reasoning, in which our own desires and beliefs determine what we think is true, not what others tell us. For example, when your partner innocently asks you what you are doing today, you may mistake it as an expression of doubt because in fact, you have grasped what they don’t approve of.
Psychologists see the problem as unreliable narrators and inattentive listeners, while Wittgenstein is a philosopher who sees the medium of language itself as inherent flaws. He believes that words are not enough to convey subtle truths, metaphysical thoughts, or any subjective experience. This is because language is nothing more than a rough model of the world - the chaos of sound or symbols represents the basic reality of existence, just as accurately as the map on your phone represents the forest you are walking through. The sight of tall trees, the smell of pine needles, the loneliness you want has nothing to do with the traces on the screen.
Wittgenstein never knew our modern communication technology, but he would certainly see them as his point 10. Consider the abbreviation and emoji of the text rumor, and really tell you what is in your beloved heart. LOL, not much, right?
Wittgenstein’s claim has a significant impact on happiness because misunderstandings reduce our well-being. For example, experiments show how not to be understood by others how to reduce the satisfaction reported by participants in subsequent activities. More profoundly, his conclusions about language deficiency suggest that we never understand the true meaning of life by reading or talking about it.
How do we escape this messy and misunderstood bush? Finding meaninglessness shows that we need to seek a special transcendence.
wIttgenstein's debate Like St. Augustine, the hippo argues, God is what we want, but God’s nature also escapes human expressions – in fact, just to talk about God to make him insignificant. But Augustine doesn't think we should give up on the entire project. The trick is to see language as the beginning of a spiritual journey, not the end. He suggested that we only use one word -deus (Latin for “God”) - As an auditory starting point for unexpressed states. He wrote: “When it sounds touching your ears, think of the highest nature of excellence and eternity.”
I believe this is also very close to Wittgenstein's suggestion. I would suggest a few signposts to guide your journey beyond words.
1. Think; don't talk.
Many religions and wisdom traditions suggest meditation on a concept. Tibetan Buddhists call it "analytical meditation", which is the morning the Dalai Lama told me that he had at least an hour a day. This meditation involves focused reflection on biblical phrases to inspire insight into what they represent. (In fact, the Augustinian version of this practice is deus He wants to meditate. )
If I do, I might start with the word “I love my wife.” Then, contrary to the logical problem-solving ability of the left hemisphere, I would try to participate in the right hemisphere of my brain, the region that deals with meaningful associations and concepts. The idea is to liberate my cognition from the scope of my vocabulary and language abilities - but it's enough to sit quietly with my phrases, or let my mind wander through the forest.
2. Seek understanding, not answers.
Step 2 - Forge an alliance with it disParticipate in our usual left-brain dominance – no longer seeking the exact answers to the puzzle. The purpose of analytical meditation is not to produce a clean explanation for why I love my wife. Nor is it the exact but bland argument for why I do this. That would be going in the wrong direction, just to make me more committed to poverty and to keep me away from the basic truth, Wittgenstein and Augustine said.
Once you try to explain this love verbally - "because she is good for me", you devalue the concept and literally underestimate its truth. Consider even Elizabeth Barrett Browning's greatest love poems, such as these lines: "I breathe, /smile, tears, I love you; if God chooses, /I will love you better after death", which is basically in Augustine-like authenticity that makes this profound and complex experience go against the words. The goal is to obtain understand In this kind of love, it is not like the answer to the solution to mathematical equations.
wHats Wittgenstein Have we done anything about the ultimate meaning of meaning in life? "One of them talks," he said. treaty“Then be sure to stay silent.” Be sure to talk about trivial things, he seems to be saying, but don’t waste your time expressing the richness of life because you will only fool others and frustrate yourself. It is best to keep your attorney.
The prohibition is often understood as expressing an impossible statement of nihilism and is therefore an impossible knowledge. I believe this is nothing. Staying silent is the beginning of another cognition, a path to meditation that does not seek direct answers. Silence yourself and the understanding you gain will be a reward that you cannot describe.