What is the meaning of meaning? We can view meaning at two
levels. First, it is a cognitive process whereby we make sense
of the stream of information that assails us in each moment. At
a higher level, deep meaning is what we seek in life and looks
for answers to such spiritual questions such as 'Why are we
here?' Here are some of the existing academic theories about how
we make sense of the world, understanding meaning. Please feel
free to contribute with whatever you like to this list of
theories. I will appreciate it if you bring new and strange
thoughts. 1. Constructivism: We try to make sense of the world
by making use of constructs, which are perceptual categories
that we use when evaluating things. 2. Framing: A frame is the
combination of beliefs, values, attitudes, mental models, and so
on which we use to perceive a situation. We effectively look
through this frame in the way we would look through tinted
spectacles. The frame significantly effects how we infer meaning
and hence understand the situati