Existence of God

Can words mean the same thing every time?

Image: International Dunhuang Project, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Existence of God

Can words mean the same thing every time?

Imagine you're texting a friend about seeing a movie. You text, "I loved the movie last night." But when you talk about it later, you can't remember exactly what you liked about it. Your friend thinks you meant something different.

Derrida's idea of 'différance' suggests that the meaning of words shifts over time and context, like your vague memory of the movie. It's a French term combining 'to defer' and 'to differ,' showing that words don't have a single, fixed meaning.

Example

You text, "I loved the movie last night," but later, you can't recall the specific scenes you liked, leading to a different interpretation when you talk about it.

Remember this

'Différance' reminds us that words and meanings are fluid, not fixed.

Related concepts

Swipe through 100 ML concepts daily

Open Pocket Polymath