Conceptual Consensual Sensation 1995

In order for a word, gesture, or image to be meaningful, it must communicate an idea, feeling, or sensation. Otherwise, the perception of the viewer is independent from the intention of the artist. However, this does depend upon a communal assumption that a reported sensation, if experienced under corresponding circumstances, relates to similar internal experiences.

An abstract representation of a feeling must also depend upon some common vocabulary, either of sound, word, shape, or colour. The sensation of love is often represented by a red or pink heart, as the heart is used to symbolise the tingling sensation experienced in the chest cavity area when gripped by an emotional experience.

Our humanity is defined by our ability to relate consensual emotional experiences through language, and it is this which distinguishes us from animals. Similarly, the whole basis for our communication is dependent upon a mutual anthropomorphisation which causes us to projcet our own experiences onto those of the human that is trying to communicate.

Our consensual reality is dependent upon our faith in the ability to empathise effectively, and each expression adds a small amount of noise into the system. What criteria determine the stability of the boundary between understanding and entropy?