Hermeneutics

"Bears leave trails when they move through a forest. They scratch themselves on trees, break branches, and urinate on the ground - signs that other bears find meaningful."Gilhus introduces the concept of hermeneutics with the idea of bears urinating on the ground... not so meaningful to us, but used by bears to show territory discrepancies. The study of interpretation applies to everything we do; the way we look at the world, the way we see other people, the way we study and learn, they way we look at anything.

We are all different from the way we were raised, our culture, life events, and whatever else would change the way we interpret. In this way, we are all individual. For instance, when I look around right now, I see a TV, gum, and my sunglasses. I interpret it as - 1) Can't wait to play video games on that TV tonight. 2) I'm going to grab a piece of gum before practice because it helps me concentrate. 3) This weekend, I'll be wearing those sunglasses when I go to the pool. I bet you weren't thinking the same thing when you thought of those 3 objects.

In context of reading text, each person will gain whatever they take from reading based on ingrained prejudice and bias... they become the author of what they read. So when you throw religion in the mix and you look at the Qur'an, Pali Nikayas, and Vedas, every individual will interpret these in their own way. That is why you have the spectrum of radicals who interpret what they want from their religion. They take what they want from the text, interpret it they want, and apply it to their grand realm of knowledge.

If only there was some way to break free of bias and read the text for what its actually worth....