Meaning

People use the word meaning constantly. They argue about it, search for it, and accuse each other of missing it.

In everyday life, the word points to a familiar range of things: what a word refers to, what someone intended, what was implied, how something felt, and how understanding changes over time.

Those uses feel different, but they exist for the same reason: people and systems need to decide what things count as so they can act.

What people already call “meaning”

Everyday definitions of meaning aren’t wrong or contradictory. They name different aspects of the same coordination problem.

• Meaning as definition
  “what is conveyed by a word, sentence, or symbol”
  “What is the meaning of this word?”
  — Merriam-Webster

• Meaning as intent
  “what one intends to convey especially by language”
  “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
  — Merriam-Webster

• Meaning as implication
  “an implication of a hidden or special significance”
  “Her silence had a clear meaning.”
  — Merriam-Webster

• Meaning as change over time
  “the way something comes to be understood”
  “The meaning of the word has changed over time.”
  — Cambridge Dictionary

• Meaning as felt impact
  “having a particular emotional or symbolic quality”
  “That look was full of meaning.”
  — Oxford Languages

These definitions point in different directions, but they keep circling the same question: When does something become important enough to shape what happens next?

What the Institute means by “meaning”

In the Institute’s work, meaning is not a feeling, belief, or personal intention.

Meaning is what something counts as for action.

A signal becomes meaning when it is treated as sufficient to guide, constrain, or justify what a system does next. If nothing changes about what can be done, decided, or justified, then meaning has not yet formed in the operational sense, even if the signal felt significant.

When meaning becomes real

Meaning becomes real at a specific threshold: when an interpretation starts to constrain action.

Before that point, people may speculate, persuade, disagree, or react emotionally. After that point, alternatives carry cost. The system has treated one interpretation as governing.

That threshold is what turns information into coordination.

What meaning is not

Meaning is not:

• opinion

• belief

• mood

• symbolism

• personal intent

Intent explains why someone acted.
Meaning specifies what that action now establishes for everyone involved.

“I didn’t mean that” does not remove the need to respond.
“I meant well” does not create shared coordination.

Why meaning matters

People do not coordinate on information alone.
They coordinate on what the information counts as.

When meaning is shared:

• decisions remain usable instead of constantly reopening

• disagreement stays inside a common frame

• work builds instead of looping

When meaning is not shared:

• decisions return again and again

• people re-argue basics instead of moving forward

• action depends on private interpretation rather than shared reference

Many problems labeled communication, alignment, or culture are actually problems of shared meaning.

A simple way to notice meaning

When confusion appears, ask three questions:

1. What happened?

2. What does this count as?

3. What does it change about what we do next?

Meaning lives in the second question.

People often agree on what happened and still struggle, because they disagree on what it counts as.

The step people skip

Many people assume coordination works like this:

Information → Action

In practice it works like this:

Information → Meaning → Response → Action

Meaning is the step where information becomes decisive. Without shared meaning, the same facts produce incompatible actions.

One sentence to remember

Meaning is what something counts as for action. Coordination depends on sharing that.