Semantic Alchemy

From bottom to top :

 W      with other selves
 V       shares meanings
  I                           a self

Semantic alchemy is a concept which could be translated by ideation, creativity, or even biosemiotics. In short, when various meanings intersect into something new, surprising or unexpected, this is where semantic alchemy happens. It is a natural process.

There are a number of conceptual tools which could help us grasp this somewhat unfathomable phenomenon :

• Semantic space (IVW) : a conceptual space  made of a network(IV) of semantic objects(V), the objects, and semantic selves(I), the subjects.
• Semantic self (I) : the subject who constructs its personal semantic network(IV). The roots of any object(V).
• Semantic network (IV) : the individual network of semantic objects(V) a semantic self(I) has built.
• Semantic object (V) : a point of focus in the semantic space composed by its semantic coordinates and the various semantic selves(I) contributing to this network(IV). While usually defined by a word, its semantic definition relies in its coordinates
• Semantic coordinates (VW) : a semantic object(V) has a set of coordinates, which are basically logical connections to other objects. These connections allow to identify various different meanings of a simple word for exemple.

While these definitions may seem abstract and don't convey much meaning by themselves, they are tools which can have different purposes:

• Conceptual manipulation of meanings : the level of abstraction and communication to build a semantic world would be almost impossible to achieve with just voice, pen or paper, but it is possible to build software tools to achieve that goal.
• Educational knowledge mapping : each person could build its own map of understanding, linked to others maps, opening the opportunity to explore, compare, and question its own beliefs.
•  Assisted semantic alchemy : being able to see and manipulate meanings could help us be more creative and innovative, find some unexpected meanings.
• Automated semantic alchemy : once complicated enough networks have been built, AIs could be used to generate new meanings. These could either be supervised or unsupervised  neural networks, or use other approaches.
• Study of language and traduction tool
• Belief comparator
• Cognitive biases detector
• ...

The idea behind it would be to make a map along with its scales and tools from something which already exist. In itself, being aware that individuals develop their own mental constructs based on a network of meanings can help in various ways. When communicating with others, is is important to share similar semantic networks(IV) to get to some understanding.

Some words convey a meaning which is almost globally shared, and a simple definition works for everyone. But the higher abstraction level a word uses, the more likely misunderstandings can occur.

Words like freedom or anarchy are interesting exemples of it as they can have so many meanings. While tools could help us better understand each other, sometimes the simple question : "what do you mean by that ?" can turn an animated but hollow debate into a calm and mutually beneficial conversation.