Does a poem...?

[rayheinrich]

This thread's comments are a great example of 'meaning' at work:
People hear exactly the same question differently. (On good
days the intelligent hear intelligence, and the sarcastic
hear parody; on bad days the intelligent hear stupidity and
the sarcastic hear parody.)

I felt happy and sad for no reason. I had small visions. I
started to speak with an odd accent. At first, while reading
poetry, I experienced these effects. Quite marvelous, but what
did the poem mean? Now, years later, I still experience those
same effects. I've just learned that those emotions and visions
WERE the meaning. That the meaning hadn't changed; it was my
reading that had changed. It had changed from an unconscious
process to a conscious process. Having this happen was both
wonderful and awful. It's Adam and Eve leaving Eden; it's
trading passion for perception.

But luckily, it's not so irreversible. Usually (on good days),
you can barter a bit of passion for a bit of perception (and
vice versa).



P.S. An example of the relativity of "PC":

Liberals to conservatives:
"You're not pro-life; you're against woman's rights."

Conservatives to Liberals:
"You're not pro-choice; you're for the murder of the unborn."