A Common Frame of Reference Meaning exists only in terms of experience. But it is conveyed symbolically through words. Two can therefore communicate correctly only to the extent that the elemental experiences each attaches to the words they exchange, coincide. In a relativistic universe this coincidence can never be more than approximate.

Disparate Experience

People express themselves ultimately in terms of - and by reference to - familiar objects and experiences. But what is familiar to each of us depends on many things. It depends on what part of the world we live in. Its topology - whether it is flat or mountainous. The vegetation which grows there. The animals which live there. The climate. The local language, culture, traditions and industries. It also depends significantly on our placing within the society in which we live. Whether we are rich or poor determines how much of the world we are able to experience. It also determines the extent to which we are able to participate in that society both economically and culturally.

These basic personal experiences provide the vast vocabulary of notions from which we form and shape our thoughts and construct our analogies and figures-of-speech. They are the essence of language which is itself the fundamental vehicle through which we communicate.

Divergence of Meaning

But because each of us necessarily has slightly different experiences, each of us in effect speaks a slightly different language. People whose basic experiences are very different speak very different languages, even if they all speak in English.

The thoughts of a speaker, expressed in terms of experiences which his listener does not share, cannot be communicated. Both speaker and listener may be using the same vocabulary, grammar and syntax, but the notions and concepts carried by them may not be quite the same. The semantic keys with which they unlock meaning from the syntax are subtly different, so they cannot fully and accurately understand each other. Worse still, the listener may think he understands when he has misunderstood.

Cause of Misunderstanding

This is why a government can never really know its citizens. It is why the rich can never understand the poor. It is why men cannot understand women. It is the cause of every schism between ideologies, nations, professions and social classes.

This need not be so. However, to change it will require much effort. A meeting of minds necessitates a conscious determination to bridge the gap between people of different backgrounds. It needs us to reject the overspecialisation forced upon us by industrial free-market capitalism. We need a greater overlap in knowledge and experience. We need a more common frame of reference through which to understand each other.