Words are refined ingredients in a recipe of meaning. This is a blog about the chefs. All living beings are word chefs, even when the words aren’t spoken. Life’s banquet of words starts at a beginning. A word’s meaning is then named by a definition, which is continuously refined to better suit the intention of the meaning-maker, or word chef. These subtle but continuous changes are what require us to periodically update our dictionaries.
The most commonly known definition or meaning of the word ‘beginning’, as it is used today, is “the point or time at which something begins”. Points and time are used and identified by the process of measurement, but how do we actually measure a beginning? We live in a world of measurement. We measure ingredients. We measure points. We measure time. In mathematics, we even measure ‘moments’ of random variables, in which the word ‘moment’ is defined according to its relation to the other aspects (ingredients) of the concept (recipe) intended for the interpreter (consumer). As in the previous sentence, we can use metaphors to make a difference in meaning, just as a special ingredient in a recipe might have a different chemical reaction when combined with one ingredient versus another. Renowned anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, and semiotician, Gregory Bateson, defined ‘information’ as “the difference which makes a difference”. This blog is an adventure in how all living beings use received and expressed information to interpret and create meaning for themselves and other life forms in their environment. As any connoisseur will tell you, there is much more to a great culinary creation than mixing the list of ingredients. The mastery begins with a purposeful chef. Purpose is founded and driven by a value-based belief. Meaning is the value that drives the momentum for purpose, and beginnings, endings, and the moments in between tell us a story about the meaning-maker that we far too often overlook. By exploring how and why we measure our beginnings, endings, and daily life moments, and by noting the aspects that we are unable to measure, we can better understand what may lie beyond those moments, and what may also lie beyond the beginnings and ends.
The topics and concepts presented on this site are intended for a general audience and to be comprehensible in any language. This is a site about human beings, and how our lives affect each other in all sorts of capacities and actions. Our world is very complex. We often stay so focused on the superficial distractions and necessary life-sustaining decisions that we may miss subtle but important influences. The entries and pages found here will take us on a journey to explore how our humanity connects with the whole of existence by investigating our biological development, scientific concepts, philosophies, history, and aesthetic creations. Welcome to the expedition.
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