Making meaning

How do we come to share meaning and what is the relation between meaning, understanding, ontology and knowledge?. Is there a route to shared meaning and are there degrees and depths?

Here is a possible path:

* Create a distinction, share a difference, increase awareness, call attention to and give it a name. If we cannot name do we know it?

* Craft a concept, show how the new distinction relates to existing stuff, engage in building a concept map and a topic map.

* Create a pattern, and weave the insight into a larger pattern language, gather form critique.

* Form a category, place the idea, insight, claim theory, perception within a larger context.

* Document, add to the FAQ, gather stories, incorporate within a boundary object.

Why should I take the trouble to share meaning?

* Improves communication within a CoP, less (re) definition and wrangling over different interpretations, left-hand column and ladder of influence are useful here

* Makes it possible to recognize gaps, to know what you don't know and to make new distinctions

* Complex concepts, allows and supports work is greater abstraction, reification, playing with analogy & metaphor. Take the discourse to a higher plane.

* Mapping between communities, allows term equivalence and translation between communities and paradigms

* Enhances navigation & search, e.g. intranets and knowledge repositories

* XML, implementation will be easier with clear meaning.

* B2B, leverage when working with outside partners and suppliers, makes the mapping and communication cleaner, e.g. SCM and CRM

* Intelligent agents, needed to use these advanced applications and functionality.

* Semantic web, will make it easier to apply and use the real power behind the web.