What is an Orange?

train of thoughts just hit a brick wall and I could do with everybody's intelligent perspective and profound influence tbh. Chances are I am being a stupid idiot but it also could break some kind of code.

Imagine there's an orange on the table.
Its only an orange because we have gotten used to calling it an orange, for obvious reasons as to identify it which helps others know what we are talking about.
But in that case then....if the orange is just a word then what is the actual orange?
We can describe it easily but only due to a construct we developed called words.
In which case the orange albeit very different from an apple, holds something similar as an object or fruit.
At this point, I think there is something important that i'm missing perhaps.
But if things are just words then what really are they?

 

Just read that back and dont know what to expect but if i'm being obviously foolish then I will take everybodys comments to 'stop taking drugs' as sound advice and probably move onto other thoughts that baffle my brain.

 

*!!!!!!

 

Great segment.

 

Maybe it identifies as an apple.

 

The orange as it is was called. A. " yellow red " up until the end of the 16th century when Europeans could suddenly trade for it and I think it originated the name in portugal

 

In Socratic terms, an orange is an orange because we define it and recognise it as an orange. If it doesnt meet the criteria we prescribe to an orange then it is not an orange.

In similar discussions Ive had with my 8 year old I frame the response as 'if it isnt an orange then what is it?'

Socrates would probably conclude that it therefore neither an orange nor an apple

 

When a Tangerine grows up.

 

Hmm, interesting. So if I describe an object to you then I have solidified it as what I've described simply by describing it, which is irrefutable? Or could we have separate ideas of what an orange is without any law of absolute truth?
'if it isn't an orange then what is it?' Good question, could we say 'molecules or atoms? Then what are they then if not simply our perception or description of an object at its core.

 

My Norwegian friend explained ''if we didn't have words then we would be back in the stone age'' I completely agree with him and I recognise how words are probably humans biggest advancement in history. However his point seemed unsubstantial to me and it still doesn't convince me that an orange is actually an orange.

 

If we WERE back in the stone age, would an Orange still be an orange even though nobody has ever called it such a thing?

 

I've often thought what it would be like if nouns didn't exist and we just described the thing we are referring to. Like when people call the remote control a zapper.

Orange would be the juicy citrus sphere.

 

If it is a complete and agreed definition then it cant change. If the definition of a square is a 2D shape with 4 equal sides and 4 right angles, then such a thing cant not be a square. You can call it a triangle but you would be wrong. But if you said something was a 4 sided 2D shape, and someone called it a rectangle they may be correct as the defintion isnt complete.

You could answer 'molecules or atoms' to what is an orange if not an orange, but the definition of an orange is that it is made of these things. You are arent refuting that its an orange. (Same way calling a square a 'shape' isnt denying it is a square).

 

Alright then lads I guess an orange is an orange then because we say it is so.

 

Would be a good way of communicating. I think the language we use is well structured but it can also be regarded as * in some respect. I imagine communication at some stage went through that exact process you mention because what would be the first thing a caveman would need to express and verbalise? It would likely be "ouch'' or ''ffs i'm hungry''
Now we are getting somewhere. One caveman by himself is hopeless by this logic but 2 cavemen will adapt and learn off each other ways to identify and categorise things, multiply that by massive numbers as time goes by and you have a word for everything discovered up until that point and categories such as nouns to structure it.

 

4am afters chat vibes

 

What's the difference between an apple and an orange?





Ye canny get an apple *.