I agree on the usefulness piece and that words/ideas have meaning. But usefulness shouldn’t be conflated with the underlying truth and neither should classifica

I agree on the usefulness piece and that words/ideas have meaning. But usefulness shouldn’t be conflated with the underlying truth and neither should classifications of convention. As the saying goes, all models are wrong, but some are useful. I can say that burying the dishes from a meal that made me sick may help avoid future food poisoning; while useful, it doesn’t get me closer to the underlying truth of germ theory. I think the heart of these more philosophical debates is a desire for fundamental truth, not just a useful mental model.