# The way things are perceived

By [Tresa](https://paragraph.com/@melson) · 2021-10-07

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In the dictionary, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the symbolic name of something (symbol) and the meaning (sense), for example, dog refers to a domesticated, hearing and smell keen... used to ... of mammals. In semantics, "sense" is the abstract, internal meaning of a linguistic form out of context, which is the definition we see in dictionaries.

Meaning is not the same thing as reference. All things that satisfy the dictionary definition of a characteristic belong to the same meaning, but there can be an infinite number of "references", the characteristics of the dog described above, in reality there can be your dog, the neighbor's dog, the African dog, the former dog . . etc. Thus, the meaning (sense) and the external world (i.e., reference) is relatively more fragile connection. In life, we often do things that do not match up, which also reveals that there is not a simple correspondence between "definition" and "reference", but also due to the divergent, multidimensional and non-linear character of thinking.

Suppose there is a cup in front of us, when we are distracted, its definition in our mind is weakened, it exercises its most basic function - a container, you can put something in it, because it is just a container, you can put water, put pencil, put garbage ...... Similarly, to throw the garbage, one hand ice cream, one hand garbage, a small hand, the garbage is still in the hand 0-0, my cold drink T T At this point we define the thing in the hand is about to be thrown out, and ignore what it originally was.

However, it is this weak connection that has led to so much creativity, the so-called "unconventional ideas", is also the reason. We do not have to follow the dictionary definition to define each thing; from the essence of thinking, we can derive more. Cup not only put water, it is a container, so you can also put solids, there are all kinds of punch; stickers not only for ornamental, because the nature of the paste can be easily fixed, you can add chemicals into mosquito repellent stickers; Japan's manhole cover is not only to prevent the fall of the cover, or a beautiful piece of art carving! Digging carefully, may be able to change the way we perceive the world, we can also become artists!

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*Originally published on [Tresa](https://paragraph.com/@melson/the-way-things-are-perceived)*