::Meanings and pleasures::

While in the process of writing the survey that I'm going to start sending out to various bloggers this week, I realized that I needed to define what I mean when I use the terms "meanings" and "pleasures".

Then I thought, why not define it here, so that if anyone is actually reading this and is willing to stand up and be counted in this experiment of mine, they (you?) can understand my vocabulary.

Both terms originate with De Certeau's theory on the practice of everyday life.

The "meaning" is the "why" of an experience, as in "why do you do it?" It is the intent, the reason behind the method chosen and its subsequent execution, the driving force behind the action.

The "pleasure" is the "what" of the experience, as in "what's in this for me?" It is the payoff, the result of the action, the personalized reaction to the activity in which you engaged.

I should point out that pleasure is not necessarily emotional, despite the origins of the word. Receiving monetary payment for something could be defined by you as a pleasure. Semantically, it could be argued that the money itself isn't the pleasure, the feeling you get when you receive it is, but that splits it a bit too fine for my purposes. Especially when I am dealing with cyber-reality in the I-Space.