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I don't agree. It's not necessary meaningful _only_ for symbolic reasons, in fact, you chose to give it meaning that way. You can also simply enjoy the fact you

I don't agree. It's not necessary meaningful _only_ for symbolic reasons, in fact, you chose to give it meaning that way. You can also simply enjoy the fact your kid is happy and you are having a solitude moment with somebody who you love and who loves you back. In the same way you would enjoy a good tasting Apple, or hot water touching your skin, etc. Unless you are saying that humans are incapable of enjoying life outside of cultural symbols. You seem to be conflating "am I enjoying this moment?" with "does what I'm doing matter?"

justforyou 7y ago
If what you say is true, eating apples would be a universal joy. That's not the case. Food preferences / aversions are a product of culture. The ability to ask both "am I enjoying this moment?" and "does what I'm doing matter?" is a byproduct of symbolic thinking. Culture is both the vector for those symbols and the product of them.
- dragonwriter 7y ago
  > If what you say is true, eating apples would be a universal joy That doesn't follow from anything the grandparent said. > Food preferences / aversions are a product of culture. They are certainly subjective, and culture has some influence on them, but “product of culture” is far overstating the case. Food preferences exist without culture for purely (though still varying across individuals, because biology does) biological reasons. > The ability to ask both "am I enjoying this moment?" and "does what I'm doing matter?" is a byproduct of symbolic thinking. Insofar as all use of language is, and this the ability to ask any question framed in words is, certainly. It's less clear whether the ability to distinguish momentary enjoyment from significance is, because we don't really have address to the cognitive processes of those without access to language. > Culture is both the vector for those symbols and the product of them. This may also overstste the influence of culture, but it does so less than the prior example.

justforyou 7y ago

If what you say is true, eating apples would be a universal joy. That's not the case. Food preferences / aversions are a product of culture. The ability to ask both "am I enjoying this moment?" and "does what I'm doing matter?" is a byproduct of symbolic thinking. Culture is both the vector for those symbols and the product of them.

dragonwriter 7y ago
> If what you say is true, eating apples would be a universal joy That doesn't follow from anything the grandparent said. > Food preferences / aversions are a product of culture. They are certainly subjective, and culture has some influence on them, but “product of culture” is far overstating the case. Food preferences exist without culture for purely (though still varying across individuals, because biology does) biological reasons. > The ability to ask both "am I enjoying this moment?" and "does what I'm doing matter?" is a byproduct of symbolic thinking. Insofar as all use of language is, and this the ability to ask any question framed in words is, certainly. It's less clear whether the ability to distinguish momentary enjoyment from significance is, because we don't really have address to the cognitive processes of those without access to language. > Culture is both the vector for those symbols and the product of them. This may also overstste the influence of culture, but it does so less than the prior example.