The Ambiguity of Life
The word ambiguous is an adjective that relates to something and has more than one meaning or possibility.
In other words, what is being said or done can be interpreted or understood in more than one way.
So, can we say that we live in an ambiguous world?
I think so! After all, the eclectic notion that there can exist many different meanings and interpretations simultaneously is what creates this diverse human experience. We see it in the business world, in our personal lives and in the arts especially. As creative beings and problem solvers simultaneously, we interact and relate in ambiguous terms and expressions.
Take for example, the arts. This is a necessary part of human evolution and perception/interpretation of our world and human experience. We see it in literature, music and in the visual arts.
And beyond the surface of this ambiguity, lies a deeper aspect as we are also taking in mass amounts of information and ideas all at once while simultaneously parsing these pieces into an individual perception necessary to function and survive. However, we can all have different experiences which further lend to the ambiguity of life.
Are things always as they seem and do we always see the full and complete picture? What is true and what is false? Who is right and who is wrong?
Some examples of 'ambiguous art' I thought perfectly reflects this:
Young or Old?
Duck or Rabbit?
Interestingly enough, in approaching the modern age, we find that ambiguity begins playing a more important role in helping us express ideas and emotion. It has morphed into our daily lives in less obvious and direct ways. Perhaps, even in ways we are not sure of ourselves how to express.
To exemplify this, with the advent of the 20th century, we witnessed a stark transition in the art world as a reflection of this. Artists moved away from representational art, which aimed to represent a depiction of a visual reality to a more ambiguous form of expression such as Orphism, Suprematism, Neoplasticism, Optical art and most prominently Abstract Expressionism
Talk about AMBIGUITY! Yet, somehow this new concept in ambiguous art was very compelling because it spoke to the inner perception rather than the outer - a new way of looking at life and the world through perception and interpretation with unlimited possibilities.
A humorous little 'digression':
I'll never forget a few years ago visiting the Joan Miro exhibit, the curator of the gallery asked our group of kids what they thought Miro was saying with this painting. Having spent the last hour viewing a life's work of vividly painted abstracts of primary colors, THIS painting was simply a black, jagged line across a stark white, VERY LARGE, canvas. My youngest child raised his hand with a big smile on his face (clearly knowing the answer) as the curator pointed to him with curious excitement, "Yes?!" And my child said....."I think it was the end of his life and he just ran out of paint!"
The point of the above digression is to add that our perception and interpretations of ambiguous ideas and concepts also reflect our life experience, body of knowledge, emotions, history, environment, culture. We gather the available information we have and apply it to our life experience. A child's perspective would be different than an adult's perspective.
All this plays into what we see and interpret and what we see or in the next example 'don't see'.
An interesting experiment done in the 70's
In this experiment, participants were asked to count the number of basketball passes. Incredibly, half missed seeing the man in the gorilla suit. This experiment highlights our ability to concentrate on a specific goal of reasoning which allows us to concentrate on a particular task (counting passes) excluding all other distraction but when asked an 'open question' like, "What do you see?" the end result is a much broader visual scope of perception. In this case, people spotted the gorilla more easily when asked an open question.
Hmmmm
Yes, the mind is an interesting place to inhabit.
And while ambiguity is often considered a negative state, we have to take into account that it is not only a necessary part of the human experience but it is also a reflection of this very complex open system of this thing we call life - which is ever changing depending on what we can evaluate and see. The world can be understood and anticipated only 'sometimes' and in different ways. Life, by its very nature (created by us), is ambiguous.
Of course, all ambiguity all the time is just not fun. We do require a bit of balance in the mix in order to have some organization and forethought. We have to be able to throw ourselves into the future and compare what is known to what is possible (ambiguous).
Balance allows us to take a break from exclusive thinking into the realm of organized 'outside of the box' thinking.
It is in this “both/and” world of ambiguity that we progress instead of stagnate. It is through this exploration of both these complex and novel states of mind that new opportunities for engaging each other and our world emerges.
Going a bit deeper, we can even interpret ourselves as ambiguous in that we have an 'inner' and 'outer' world view simultaneously which is always perceiving and interpreting. These two intersecting perspectives exist as we are both living among others in the world and at the same time living from the originating source which is our own inner world. Are we not ambiguous by our very nature then?
Along these lines, I had to do a little research deeper on the topic and I ran across a very interesting philosopher named Maurice Merleau-Ponty (known as the philosopher of human ambiguity! Perfect!). I won't go into his body of work in this article as I have yet to dive in fully myself, but I would like to share one profound interpretation he makes in human ambiguity:
He states that we are both 'visible (are seen) but we are also invisible (because we see). In other words, the visible is seen and the invisible is seeing.
The wonderful thing about language is that it promotes its own oblivion: my eyes follow the lines on the paper, and from the moment I am caught up in their meaning, I lose sight of them.
— Maurice Merleau Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception
I think we are meant to never stay in one place of thought for too long.
My hold on the past and the future is precarious and my possession of my own time is always postponed until a stage when I may fully understand it, yet this stage can never be reached, since it would be one more moment bounded by the horizon of its future, and requiring in its turn, further developments in order to be understood. (Maurice Merleau-Ponty)
Unlike much of the general study of psychology today, Ponty's view of the human experience and our perception of the world is overlapping with a much deeper and richer complexity of understanding intermingling with consciousness itself. We are not merely subjective but objective as well.
That being said, our modern world and the rush to advance technology has created additional complexities and perhaps even misguided pursuits in order to create a less ambiguous world in which we can control and predict more easily future outcomes.
This, of course, opens up a pandora's box of rather intrinsic concerns.
One of the main areas in which technology is being guided is utilizing artificial intelligence to automatically guide human perception based on what has been accumulated using meta data gathered along with decades of behavioral and social sciences studies and research.
Are we really that simple? Nah! Remember, we are ambiguous! Ambiguous is good!
As it turns out, there's a little glitch in the artificial intelligence field.
Behold the culprit!
e·mo·ji (/ēˈmōjē/) - Noun
[a small digital image or icon used to express an idea, emotion, etc.]
The wonderful ambiguity of the common emoji! Those little ambiguous, sometimes misinterpreted, emotional supplements to our thoughts and communications. They simply throw a wrench in the AI computer's data collection. Why? Because computers are subjective and don't have the amazing capacity to feel and objectively interpret ambiguous emotion for all their possible variations. Nor do they have the capacity to predict our unique ambiguous reactions and thoughts that create our inner and outer ambiguous world. Yes, cognitive scientists in AI, psycholinguistics, neuropsychology, or theoretical linguistics seem to be having quite a difficult time translating this modern form of cartoon-like hieroglyphics.
In fact, the University of Minnesota has begun emoji research. No, I'm not making that up and you didn't misinterpret my words.
Emoji research is serious research!
According to Dr. Brent Hecht (Advisor for the emoji research):
It’s not just human interaction this research could potentially impact. The ambiguity of emoji also raises an interesting question as to how computers can learn to communicate: If people don’t have a concise understanding of what emoji mean, how can we train artificial intelligence to recognize and use emoji in conversation?
He is also right in that we ourselves often misinterpret each other's emoji speak. This was made very clear in Hannah Miller's research and article, “Blissfully happy” or “ready to fight”: Varying Interpretations of Emoji
A study done in 2006 showed flaws in digital communication regarding sarcasm and humor especially. Thirty pairs of students sent 20 emails in a sarcastic or serious tone. While senders mostly expected the recipients to correctly interpret the tone of the email, recipients got it right just over 50 percent of the time. Source
The reason for this seems to be that Emoji usage falls into two categories of interpretation: in addition to intending to communicate meaning, they also require perceptual interpretation to derive meaning.
According to Hannah Miller, "researchers barely scratched the surface on the potential for emoji research." She wants to expand the study to include "cross-cultural emoji use and how emoji meanings can vary in different geographic and demographic areas."
Another aspect to emoji interpretation lies in the diverse cultural and demographic component when we are exchanging ideas and emotions across the world. We are learning this new way of communicating with one another, but don't always have the same reactionary or emotional patterns.
So in a world where much of our day is now interlaced with communicating through short and hastily composed messages without facial expressions and hand gestures, it's easy to see why emojis have become so popular. They do help us convey those subtleties of in-person communication by adding back into the conversation the human element. Of what makes us human.
I think that Maurice Merleau Ponty would agree that "LIFE IS BUT AN AMBIGUOUS DREAM"
Simply "Miro-culous"!!!!
Additional information and sources:
https://www.mrporter.com/journal/modern-problems/the-most-confusing-emojis-explained/1986
https://www.apa.org/monitor/feb06/egos.aspx
Maurice Merleau Ponty
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Merleau-Ponty
Why Ambiguity plays a critical role in Creative Thinking
This post on AMBIGUITY is just another 'Drop In the Ocean' for the wonderful BuddyUP group
I must be a computer. I cannot see emojis. They pass my view like advertising I also ignore. I know people who talk in them in long strings, and I am sure I miss half of what they mean.
I'm old, so this may have something to do with it. I wonder now if people are using them even more than I think since I skip over them. Now I will pay attention to find out. Thank you for the head's up about this information. Very interesting!
I am older, too @fitinfun :) Half the time, I'm at a loss for the meaning behind them. I have quite a few younger friends (and some older) that use them as a second language ;) For me, I stick with happy or sad and interpret others' emoji's by the emotional quality attached. As long as I don't get any red, angry faces....I am good ' :)' I much prefer words. lol
Thank you so much for your comment
Haha! I have not even noticed the colors. Additionally, I have my media turned off now since I have a metered wifi plan. This just happened recently.
I have one window open where I can see pics if I need to but I'm mostly in text now. I noticed right away that I could work much faster and no be so distracted. So now I am not seeing emojis at all! I did not even think about this.
My one and only emoji is :) and I use it a lot. I sometimes get a colorful face out of it, but not often. I am pretty sure my son can talk in them. He is 25. I'm sure 10 year olds are fluent now.
Think quantum mechanics when ambiguity comes in ! Heard of the Schrödinger's cat ?
see Wikipedia here
Is there Ambiguity here?
Hi @sinlg
Very interesting! I wasn't familiar with the term schrodinger's cat but I was aware of many placebo studies done that resulted in the observer interfering with the outcome. I've always found that concept fascinating and thought-provoking.
Yes, I do believe that schrodinger's cat does fall into the category of ambiguous.
Such an interesting comment, thank you so much for sharing something new to me.
I might be a bit critical but art is ambiguous for the sake of being so, I feel that it is a forced aspect of "modern" art bordering on being fake. Many people are convoluted and will have the "sense" or explanation before the creation, thereby having removed the true ambiguity which I feel stems from a mixture of meaning, limited expression and emotion.
Truly ambiguous things really frustrate me and I have frustrated myself before with even my own things as I am still not able to say what they mean given the outside input of what others think they mean it tends to be a case of I did not think of that which is good merging my inner with the outer and giving me "control" thereby validating something. When I do however read or see other abstracts then I still tend to look for the concrete and hit a wall.
A good example would be https://steemit.com/myopia/@mineopoly/myopia-of-the-masses-a6076f7d7dd35 this poem and I felt quite frustrated that I could not clearly see the meaning or idea being conveyed. I still liked it but yeah shit pisses me off since if it is ambigius your interpretation should be correct right, but what if you can't interpret it so I feel kinda bad for the AI since I also do not think there is a requirement to model them after humans and instead focus on what they will become in their own right.
I get the art now a bit better and it is a playful example of ambiguity I stick to my original impression of is the chicken crossing the road and got crushed or taking a poop with the black line tracing its path :)
My oh my, Pen! Your whole comment is ambiguous to me and I will have to re-read it several times to come to a concrete meaning ;) So far my brain interpreted, "Ambiguity pisses me off!" hehe
Perhaps we are, at the heart, puzzle solvers. Puzzles produce a challenge to solve and life would be boring without puzzles to solve! The fact that you get frustrated tells me that solving the meaning, means something to you otherwise you wouldn't bother feeling frustrated about it.
I will not even begin to do a deep interpretation of abstract/minimalist art. LOL The only thing I can gather from it is whether or not the patterns and colors make me feel good or bad. Some though does border on insanity temper tantrums.
Yes, poetry is very much filled with ambiguity. And that poem you shared...hmmm I would interpret it to mean he feels you have to have a story to get curated by the magical curation fairies but he prefers putting out abstract thought with no punchline and doesn't appear to like the boards or those that exploit them. How does it correlate with the second poem? I'm not sure either. hmmm
The cover photo to the last photo with the bird is my play on the ambiguity of Joan Miro's ambiguous art series he did on a single black line against a white canvas (the one mentioned in the story with my child's interpretation of the artist running out of paint). I simply wanted to 'add a little color' and meaning to it...while being ambiguous in the process. Ambiguous humor ;)
Miro's black line series: https://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/blogs/miros-minimal-series-painting-on-white-background
I like the explanation for his poem that makes a lot of sense. Yip when it comes to art, music etc I am of the mind "Is it nice?" and I do not give it much more thought other than that.
!tipuvote 0.1 hide
BTW I don't think I would spend my time so deeply absorbed in topics like this if it weren't for the ambiguous nature of life and trying to understand its deeper meaning.
True, so long as it throws a bone with some meat on so a person can get stuck in a bit first instead of it just being a complete battle.
Culture, environment and whole lot shape our perspectives. AIs has limitations. I don't really understand emojis so I wonder how AIs can interrogate them, but that's what the research for anyways. Hope they make headways before they spend lots of money on research
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I'm quite happy with:
I much more prefer the unlimited potential of human creativity
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Fascinating topic. I am 45 and it wasn't until recently (about 1 year) that I started to use smart phones (only because it was a gift, I could not afford it). It has been a struggle to deal with whatsapp and groups and other social networks. I just can't.
I found this affirmation ironic
As you rightly pointed out, the result is the opposite. It has to be.
If anything, technology has turned us into more ambiguous and paradoxical creatures. We boast about being interconnected when we are more and more isolated. The larger our presence in the world via the virtual possibilities of the social networks, and the more followers we have, the harder it becomes to created real connections and real relationships, not only because of the obvious physical distance but because of the artificaility of the communication generated by the virtual forums.
We can see it here in Steemit. We are encourage to create and be part of communities, but the more communities we belong to, the harder it becomes to actually know the members of those communities and genuinely have significant interactions with them.
And then, even with the few members of these communites we may end up interacting with relative frequency, that interaction is always mediated by the virtual tools and subject to a certain level of artificiality.
I was very excited when people reported their experiences in the receny Steem fest because i could vicariously share what it must be like to actually meet those fellow steemians we might have been interacting for months but now on a human, real plane.
Such deep thoughts, @hlezama :) I would have to quote your entire comment as each part is significantly valid and thought-provoking.
I'm not really sure what the implications of the artificial world will have or is having on humankind but I can certainly feel it and see it - I just don't know what I'm looking at or how to interact with something that is artificial.
I think we as human beings require that interaction to be healthy in mind/body and soul. We can't lose sight of that.
Thank you for taking the time to share so much of your thoughts and ideas on this topic.
Enjoy your weekend
Thank you for the thought provoking post. My pleasure.
You too have a great weekend.
As a rather new individual here on steemit, I have learned some things about it; but one thing I totally do not understand is when someone like you, @youhavewings, writes a post like this that should be in textbooks and taught in the philosophy and psychology classes, why is it that in seven (7) days I cannot resteem this post?
This is the kind of post that should be reposted all the time; as far as I can see, as long as people exist, this is essential for helping students to critically think for themselves instead of following an agenda.
I think this is an awesome post, thanks @youhavewings.
Thank you, @jamerussell
What a complimentary comment. Critical thinking has always been an interest to me as well as philosophy and psychology :) Helpful in life.
This is a really interesting @youhavewings. You capture the essence of humanity's many faces. I guess it completely woven into our modern day lives to be ambiguous. Psychologically we wear so many masks just to function. There is work me, home me, child of a parent me, parent of a child me and all of these modalities we inhabit almost indoctrinate us to the ambiguities outside of the inner world.
Ha ha, I'm waxing philosophical (not sure how much sense I'm making 😉)and that is directly inspired by this excellent post.
I am just tickled to see your comment, @rag808
So true. This was one of those posts that took on its own life as I journey'd through it - it was very interesting what it ended up revealing. We really do wear so many masks and have so many perspectives - it's amazing to me that we are able to hold all these while simultaneously functioning in the outer world. Amazing!
Once I found the Maurice Ponty literature, I went through a little mind melt LOL His life's work is ambiguous in itself and ended up reflecting back in my writing - it is contagious! I promise, it will wear off. And you made perfect sense.
Thank you so much for your kind words
Well written and thought provoking. Viva la moji :)
Thank you!
LOL Absolutely!
Hi youhavewings,
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