On Meaning

If these were merely a sequence of meaningless words, they could be produced endlessly. Yet even that is possible only because an impulse to assign meaning is already at work.

From which layer, then, should this be observed? These letters and sentences, when examined closely, are nothing more than pixels lighting up in fixed patterns. And yet, when viewed from a slight distance, words emerge. Meaning appears. At times, it even feels as though sound itself can be heard.

It is a curious phenomenon, and one that most people perform unconsciously. In this sense, all words may be considered meaningless, and at the same time, full of meaning. Meaning does not reside within the words themselves; it seems to arise from within the observer.

Perhaps this belongs to a category that could be described as meaningless observation. It is unlikely that directing thought toward it will ever be recovered through the metric of productivity.

And yet, attention continues to drift in this direction. Not out of necessity, but because there is a faint sense that something quietly compelling may be concealed here.