Thanks for the prompt reply, I’m going to add one last thing to this discussion:
“I should caveat this with the fact that I would probably struggle to recognise our more deeply held shared meanings, in the whole fish-recognising-water sense.”
Aha, this is where I think human language limits us, since it’s our secondary nature to make assumptions and pre-judgements (to keep conversations going) that fit in neatly with mass-accepted beliefs or “Schelling points,” as you referenced. Making too many assumptions can hurt deeper connection, I fear, because stereotypes—although holding some level of truth—hold condensed representations that dehumanise and treat labels like caricatures. Think, for example, of any modern or old identity label: gay, polyamorous, conservative, female, etc. As their meanings drift through time, so will their collective connotations held by different groups of people, because every single word I mentioned has had unique meanings and ‘caricatures’ in the past and will continue to evolve in meaning. In linguistics, I think this is called semantic drift—such as semantic weakening and bleaching—though take my words with a grain of salt. I’m no linguistics grad (at least not yet ;) ).
I do wonder how the future is going to progress, because I fear we will eventually return to our primitive, cave-like bubbles, and society will eventually fracture into many smaller ones. Perhaps I’m too much of a cynic, but this “shallow” shared meaning, as you said, will break down. Because let’s face it—how long do collective shared ideas stay locked in place and last? They usually break down, and I do think, with the modern day and age, the only two possibilities that I see are either a return to or a rise in one united dogmatic institution (example: the Catholic Church) or the complete opposite—anarchy—because “neighbours in possession of wildly different world models” is terrible politically for the health and progress of society, in my opinion.
Other than that, much thanks for your response, and I do agree with you—it all boils down to us interacting with more people with different mindsets and beliefs today (tolerance and liberalism can take their credits here). But overall, I do think the specialisation of information will have an effect on society as a whole, especially with the rise of AI, which is more likely to give personalised and uniquely catered responses to an individual based on what they want to see and hear (preach to the choir, essentially). I mean, just look at the new Grok update—it’s literally shelling out Musk’s pseudoscience :(
All in all, the real question is whether this model of understanding sticks with us because it helps us deal with the barrage or “firehose” of information daily by personalising it, or if it tears us apart more and creates further divisions in society till it tears apart due to a lack of common ground and shared understandings.
I must admit I am a little pessimistic, and consider the anarchy side of the equation much more likely than consolidation. Modern society as a bunch of protocols is effective at managing diversity at scale, but it was built in a different age. You could only diverge so far from your neighbours, because who else did you talk to? With the internet and now AI, the production process of shared meaning is shifting in a fundamental way, and I’m not sure where it leads.
Thanks for the prompt reply, I’m going to add one last thing to this discussion:
“I should caveat this with the fact that I would probably struggle to recognise our more deeply held shared meanings, in the whole fish-recognising-water sense.”
Aha, this is where I think human language limits us, since it’s our secondary nature to make assumptions and pre-judgements (to keep conversations going) that fit in neatly with mass-accepted beliefs or “Schelling points,” as you referenced. Making too many assumptions can hurt deeper connection, I fear, because stereotypes—although holding some level of truth—hold condensed representations that dehumanise and treat labels like caricatures. Think, for example, of any modern or old identity label: gay, polyamorous, conservative, female, etc. As their meanings drift through time, so will their collective connotations held by different groups of people, because every single word I mentioned has had unique meanings and ‘caricatures’ in the past and will continue to evolve in meaning. In linguistics, I think this is called semantic drift—such as semantic weakening and bleaching—though take my words with a grain of salt. I’m no linguistics grad (at least not yet ;) ).
I do wonder how the future is going to progress, because I fear we will eventually return to our primitive, cave-like bubbles, and society will eventually fracture into many smaller ones. Perhaps I’m too much of a cynic, but this “shallow” shared meaning, as you said, will break down. Because let’s face it—how long do collective shared ideas stay locked in place and last? They usually break down, and I do think, with the modern day and age, the only two possibilities that I see are either a return to or a rise in one united dogmatic institution (example: the Catholic Church) or the complete opposite—anarchy—because “neighbours in possession of wildly different world models” is terrible politically for the health and progress of society, in my opinion.
Other than that, much thanks for your response, and I do agree with you—it all boils down to us interacting with more people with different mindsets and beliefs today (tolerance and liberalism can take their credits here). But overall, I do think the specialisation of information will have an effect on society as a whole, especially with the rise of AI, which is more likely to give personalised and uniquely catered responses to an individual based on what they want to see and hear (preach to the choir, essentially). I mean, just look at the new Grok update—it’s literally shelling out Musk’s pseudoscience :(
All in all, the real question is whether this model of understanding sticks with us because it helps us deal with the barrage or “firehose” of information daily by personalising it, or if it tears us apart more and creates further divisions in society till it tears apart due to a lack of common ground and shared understandings.
Hazel.
I must admit I am a little pessimistic, and consider the anarchy side of the equation much more likely than consolidation. Modern society as a bunch of protocols is effective at managing diversity at scale, but it was built in a different age. You could only diverge so far from your neighbours, because who else did you talk to? With the internet and now AI, the production process of shared meaning is shifting in a fundamental way, and I’m not sure where it leads.