Can You Find Meaning in It? The Study of Finding Meaning: Wise People Learn Even from Stones by the Roadside—The 'Power to Find Meaning' Will Change Your Life and Your Note. [Column] The Science of Thought (Part 37)

📘 'Can You Find Meaning in It? The Study of Finding Meaning—Wise People Learn Even from Stones by the Roadside' The Science of Thought: Part 37

—The 'power to find meaning' will change your life and your note.

🔍 3 Key Points of This Column

• 1️⃣ The 'power to find meaning' is a 'knowledge sensor' that generates learning and insights in everyday life.

• 2️⃣ From the perspectives of mathematics and physics, you can unravel the 'structure of meaning' and the 'process of generating observed meaning.'

• 3️⃣ 'The Study of Finding Meaning' is a discipline that supports creativity and the depth of life in the AI era.

🌱 Prologue | Introduction — Can you notice the stone by the roadside? 🪨💡

There is a saying: 'Wise people learn even from stones by the roadside.'
On the other hand, in this modern age flooded with information,
aren't there many people who feel like they 'can't learn anything' or 'don't know what is important'? 📱🌊

I myself, while encountering work, conversations, social media, and even casual exam questions, suddenly thought:
Is there really no 'meaning' in this daily life?
Or have we simply forgottenthe eyes to find meaning (= the power of meaning discovery) ? 👀🌀

In this column, with the theme of such 'power to find meaning',
while approaching it from various perspectives such as mathematics, physics, business, and education,
I will guide you on an intellectual adventure to re-examine the world from the 'perspective of a wise person'✨

• 👩‍💼 What is a way of thinking that doesn't miss hints in the business field?

• 🧑‍🏫 How can you notice the 'silent messages' of students in an educational setting?

• 🧘‍♂️ What is a perspective that gives meaning to 'coincidence' as a life hack?

• 🧠 For creators who continue to write notes, 'how to turn daily events into discoveries' is the greatest skill!

Instead of looking for 'things that have meaning',cultivating a 'sense for finding meaning' might be the key to enriching your life 🔑 .

📚 Now, let's set off into the world of 'The Study of Finding Meaning'! 🚀✨

🧭 Chapter 1 | What is a 'stone by the roadside'? ~A gaze toward things without meaning~ 🪨🔍

Is a 'stone by the roadside' just a pebble?
Or is it a 'seed of inquiry'where someone's realization or story lies dormant ? 🌱✨

While 'stone by the roadside' literally means 'a stone lying on the side of the road',metaphorically, it means 'an existence that no one pays attention to and that appears to have no value' 🪨🚶‍♂️

✅ General meaning and usage

• Something common that no one pays attention to

• Something considered worthless and overlooked

• Things that are close by, yet whose meaning or importance goes unnoticed

🧠 Literary and Philosophical Meaning

The phrase 'a wise person learns even from a stone by the roadside' contains the lesson that:

In other words, a 'stone by the roadside' is a symbol of something that seems meaningless at first glance, and whether or not you can turn that into 'learning' or 'realization' is what determines
the richness of your life and your thinking✨

🗿 Keywords as Symbols

• Worthless → Rediscovery → Treasure Trove

• Daily Life → Observation → Learning

• Noise → Attention → Message

This phrase is often used to mean that 'there is important learning and essence to be found in the daily life we often overlook.' But I want to re-examine this in this day and age.
But I want to re-examine this in this day and age.

🧑‍🏫 1. In the educational setting…

A student's murmur, the silence in the classroom, a fleeting expression after class. These are not just noise. In fact, they are

a quiet signal saying, 'There is learning here'📡🌟

Whether a teacher or educator can notice this can significantly change the quality of education.

🧑‍💼 2. In the business setting…

How many times have I been helped by customer complaints or comments in the margins of surveys? Even feedback that seems negative on the surface, if you change your perspective, is a

'treasure trove of meaning' that can become an 'entryway to innovation'💎🚪

The 'power to pick up hidden meaning' is an essential skill for product creation, marketing, UX design, and more!

🧘‍♀️ 3. In life…

A phrase on a poster you happened to see, a book being read by the person sitting next to you on the train,
or a sentence that flowed through your social media timeline.
These things can sometimes becomehints for the path you should take or for your life🌈📘

🎯 4. Instead of 'searching for meaning,' let's cultivate an 'eye for finding meaning'👁️✨

What is important is not searching for 'amazing information' or 'something that looks like the correct answer.'
Rather,what kind of potential can you find within 'things that seem like nothing at first glance'?
That 'sensitivity' is what will change your life, your work, and your creativity🔧🎨

✍️ 5. To note creators: Stones by the roadside are your very own idea notebooks📓💡

• If you are struggling, wondering 'what should I write today...',the coffee cup in front of you☕,graffiti on the side of the road🖍️,or an advertisement you happened to notice🪧, try looking for a small 'seed of a question' in them✨

Those small realizations will grow into 'articles that get read,' leading to empathy and discovery for someone else🌱📣

The 'power to find meaning' is a skill that polishes not just your intellect, but your sensibilities and your lifeas well🛠️🌟
In the next chapter, we will unravel such 'structures of meaning' using the intellectual tools of mathematics and physics!📐🔬

🔍 Chapter 2 | What is the essence of 'Can you find meaning there?'🧠💫

'Meaning' is not something given to you, but something you find yourself.
So, what is that 'way of finding it'?
In this chapter, let's explore 'what is meaning?' in a fun and deep way usingmathematical thinking and physical thinking—intellectual tools that are a bit serious but super useful📐🔬

➕ 1. 'Meaning' factorized through mathematical thinking📊🧮

Actually, 'meaning' can also be replaced by a formula like this👇

✅ Here is the formula for meaning!💡

Meaning (M) = f (T, C, P)

• T (Target) = Subject

• C (Context) = Context/Situation

• P (Personal) = Personal background or interpretation

🧩 For example, a case like this!

🗣️ Even a single phrase like 'I'll hear about that later'...

• 💼 [If said by a boss at work]: 'They might have just brushed this off...😓'

• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 [If in an exchange with a best friend]: 'They will take the time to listen properly✨'

• 🧘‍♂️ [If you find yourself muttering]: 'I don't have the bandwidth right now, but this is a story I want to cherish 🧠'

Even with the same 'words (T)', when the 'context (C)' and 'interpretation (P)' change, the meaning looks completely different, doesn't it? 👓

🔁 'Meaning' is not something fixed, but a 'variable function' that changes shape depending on the context and yourself.
Those who can decipher this function possess the 'meaning-finding power' that leads to deep understanding, empathy, and value creation 💫

✍️ Application tips for you, the note writer 📓✨

• On days when you run out of ideas, try breaking down 'things that happened today (T)' into 'the situation at the time (C)' and 'your feelings (P)'!

Just by doing that, 'ordinary daily life' turns into a theme that is worth writing about 🌟

🔬 2. Physics Thinking × Quantum Theory Analogy 🌌⚛️

In the world of physics, the 'observer' is an extremely important existence.
Especially in quantum mechanics, there is a surprising law that 'the state is not determined until it is observed' 👀⚛️

🧠 What happens if we apply this way of thinking to 'meaning'?

• 'Meaning' is not something that was originally 'there',

• but something that 'emerges only when you try to look at it'

For example...

📄 exam questions the intention hidden by the questioner
💬 a friend's remark the emotions and conflicts contained within
🧩 daily discomforts unresolved questions signaled by them

You cannot notice these just by looking at them.
'The attitude of going to look for meaning' = the will to observe is what allows 'meaning' to emerge for the first time 🌠

🎯 3. Just by directing your consciousness, the world changes 👓✨

• 'Why did I encounter this situation?'

• 'What did I feel about this event?'

• 'How does it look to someone else?'

Just by throwing such questions out there, everything in your daily life turns into
'material', 'learning', or 'a source of creation' 🪄🌍

💡 4. To you who continues to write notes: 'The power to find' is your greatest asset!

Those who can find 'meaning' in their daily lives
will never run out of ideas for posting, planning, and creating for the rest of their lives.💼🎨

• 📉 'Why didn't this article get much traction?' is also a great opportunity for 'meaning discovery'!

• 🧠 'The readers' reactions were different from what I expected' → By deciphering the meaning of that gap, new hints are born.

In the next chapter, to cultivate such 'meaning discovery power',the ideal field of study = 'Can You Find Meaning in It? Study'I will design an entire department for it.🏫💫
From educational philosophy to curriculum and career paths after graduation... let's draw your future school together!🎓🚀

🏫Chapter 3 | I Imagined a Department to Study This Field!🎓🧩

If you have read this far, you must surely be feeling it.
'The power to find meaning' is incredibly effective for life!✨

If so, let's just create it—
a fictional department that seriously cultivates the 'power to find meaning'!🚀📚

🎯 1. Purpose, Core Values, Mission, Vision🧠💬

🪄Purpose (Reason for Existence)

🧭Core Values (4 Powers to Cherish)

• Observational Power(The power not just to see, but to discern)👀

• Interpretive Power(The power to read context and unravel meaning)📖

• Reconstructive Power(The power to edit meaning and transform it into new value)🔧

• Dialogue Power(The power to layer with others' perspectives and expand meaning)🤝

🎓Mission (Educational Mission)

🌏Vision (Future We Aim For)

🏛️ 2. 3 Policies | The 'Entrance, Content, and Exit' This Department Values🌀

🎓 Diploma Policy (Degree Awarding Policy)

📘 Curriculum Policy (Educational Program Organization Policy)

✨ Admission Policy (Desired Student Profile)

📚 3. Fictional Featured Course: 'Meaning Discovery Practice Seminar' Syllabus Proposal📝✨

🧭 Course Objectives

📅 Curriculum Structure

• Week 1: Observation Skills Training (Seeing the world with different eyes than usual👀)

• Week 3: Meaning Reframing Exercise (Changing perspectives to reconstruct meaning🔄)

• Week 5: Meaning Analysis via Mathematical and Physical Models (Seeing through meaning with the lens of logic📐)

• Week 7: Meaning Narrativization Workshop (Converting discoveries into stories📖✨)

📝 Evaluation Methods

• Portfolio Submission📂 (Recording the trajectory of meaning discovery)

• Interactive Presentation🗣️ (Testing the ability to convey 'meaning' to others!)

💼 4. Career Paths After Graduation | The Future is Wide for Those Who Can Decipher Meaning!🌈

🛍️ Product Planning / 🎨 UX Designer / 📰 Editor / 🧑‍🏫 Educational Facilitator / 🧠 Semantic Researcher, etc...

In any field, those who can see through
'Why do people think that way?'
and
'What kind of meaning is there?' can become leaders who pose questions and create value🔥✨

✍️ 5. To all note creators...

The skills learned in this department can be incredibly applied to writing notes too!📢

• “Everyday discomfort” → Change your perspective and dig deep for an article🪞

• “Reader reactions” → Analyze the meaning behind the words🔍

• “Running out of ideas” → Discover seeds of meaning through observation🌱

People who can find meaning are also able to keep creating content✨

In the next chapter, I will specifically introduce how to utilize this 'power to find meaning' in actual business, education, and life hacks💼🧠

Now, let's set off for the practical application of 'meaning discovery power'!🚀💡

🧩Chapter 4 | How is this study useful in daily life?🛠️💬

'Power to find meaning' = just playing at thinking?
No, that's not it✋✨

This power is a skill that works 'quietly and powerfully' in every scene, such as education, business, life design, and creative activities🧠🔍

🧑‍🏫 1. Education | Finding meaning in the 'casual changes' of students🎓💬

• A day when a usually energetic child is quiet

• A week when a child who often speaks up suddenly stops asking questions

• Avoiding eye contact, giving more vague replies...

Teachers who can notice these 'trivial changes' and think 'there might be something here' are the educators who can truly support their students✨

🧠 Meaning discovery power is an 'educational radar' that reads 'learning support' and 'emotional signs' early on📡

🧑‍💼 2. Business | Marketing sense to decipher 'unspoken needs'💼📊

• A single word written in the blank space of a survey✍️

• A sense of discomfort in reactions on social media🌀

• The reason users 'stopped using it for no particular reason'

Teams that can find 'meaning' in thesecan quickly access 'the voice of the market that no one has noticed yet'🚀

📣 Reading meaning is about understanding customers, it is the seed for product planning, and it is a 'creative business skill' that weaves brand stories✨

🧘‍♂️ 3. Life Hacks | When you give meaning to coincidences, life becomes a drama🎬🌈

• The book you happened to encounter back then📕

• The poster you saw at a cafe you just wandered into🪧

• An event you thought was a failure started to have meaning later on...

Have you ever had an experience like this?😊

By finding meaning, 'just an event' turns into'a story all your own'💫
And that leads tothe power to proactively redesign your life!

✍️ 4. To you, the note creator | 'Meaning' is a treasure trove of content💎📣

• Dig into a moment of daily life and ask, 'What is this?'

• Deep dive into reader reactions and ask, 'Why did they respond that way?'

• You start to see 'a different meaning' in your past articles...

If you get into the habit of finding meaning,a note life with no shortage of ideas and doubled empathybegins📝🚀

🌱 5. Summary | The future begins to change for those who have found 'meaning'

• Education: The power to notice leads to support📚

• Business: Those who can grasp true intentions create change💡

• Life: Those who give meaning to coincidences design their lives🎨

• Creative: Those who scoop up small feelings of discomfort create stories📖

In the next chapter, we will think about this 'meaning discovery power' and its futuristic collaboration with AI🤖✨
In an era where humans and AI create 'meaning' together, let's explore the possibilities!

🛑 Chapter 5 | What are the risks of 'wrong meaning-making'?

❗1. Because finding meaning is an 'interpretation,' it can also lead to misunderstandings

The 'power to find meaning' is a highly creative skill, but
if the premises or context are misunderstood, the following risks arise.

🔍 2. Specific risks and examples

📉 Examples of misunderstandings in a business setting

• Interpreting a customer complaint only as 'anger' → Aggressive response → Loss of trust
  ↳ [Actually] It might have been a sign of 'disappointment born from high expectations'

🧑‍🏫 Examples of misunderstandings in an educational setting

• Interpreting a student's silence as 'lack of motivation' → Scolding/Negation → Student shuts down
  ↳ [Actually] A possibility that they were confused and struggling, or dealing with inner conflict

🧘‍♀️ Examples of misunderstandings in personal life stories

• Interpreting 'failure = I am a useless person' → Self-negation
  ↳ [Actually] It might have been a 'chance to find a different way than before'

🧠 3. Three countermeasures to prevent wrong meaning-making

✅ ① Recognize that 'meaning is a hypothesis'🧪

• Treat meaning not as a 'fixed fact,' but as 'one of several interpretations.'

• Example: Make it a habit to form multiple hypotheses by asking, 'What possible meanings could lie behind this statement?'

✅ ② Incorporate other perspectives🤝

• Check if your meaning-making is biased through dialogue and feedback.

• In education, hints for 're-meaning' are hidden in the voices of other teachers or parents; in business, in the voices of colleagues or customers.

✅ ③ Cultivate the 'power to re-question meaning'🔁

• Look back and ask, 'Was the meaning I assigned at the time valid?' when time has passed or the situation has changed.

• For note writers, 'reflection posts' where you add comments to your own articles later are also great.

✍️ 4. Summary of Chapter 5

🤖 Chapter 6 | How Will 'Meaning' Evolve with AI?🧠✨

In an era where AI plays an active role, how will the 'power to find meaning' change?
'In an age where AI makes all the judgments, won't the 'power to think about meaning' become unnecessary?'
...If that's what you thought, wait a moment❗

Actually, an era where humans and AI co-create 'meaning' has already begun.🤝🚀

🤖 1. AI is a genius at discovering 'structure and patterns'!📊🧩

AI can do the following from massive amounts of data...

• Find hidden patterns📈

• Decipher context📚

• Connect relationships🧠💬

It is very skilled at abilities like these.
In other words, it is an entity that efficiently provides 'material for creating meaning'.✨

👩‍💻 2. On the other hand, humans are creators who generate 'questions and meaning'🎨💡

Where AI excels is in 'analysis' and 'classification'.
However, 'Why do I want to know that?'
'What kind of story is there?'
—generating 'questions' and 'interpretations' like these is a power unique to humans.🌈✨

🔁 3. The future where Human x AI = 'Co-creation of meaning' occurs🌍🤝

In the 'Meaning Discovery Studies' of the future, an era will arrive where AI and humans leverage their respective strengths to
'create meaning together'!

Their respective roles look something like this👇

🤖 AI's role (Good at structuring and organizing information!)

• Discovering the structure of data

• Deciphering vast contexts

• Organizing information and presenting laws and trends

👩‍🎨 The Human Role (Expert at Creating Questions and Sensitivity!)

• Formulating the 'question' of 'Why do I want to know?'

• Interpreting 'meaning' through emotions and intuition

• Converting information into 'stories' and 'value'

By humans and AI working together while dividing roles in this way,
a future opens up where we can discover meanings we previously overlooked and seeds for new ideas🌱✨

🧠 4. For example, dialogue with generative AI creates 'realizations of meaning'!

• 'I felt vaguely uneasy, but by being asked questions by the AI, I realized my true feelings!'

• 'When I threw ideas at the AI, it gave back unexpected perspectives, expanding my thinking!'

If you write on note, you have surely had experiences like this✍️💡
AI might be a 'meaning reflector'🪞✨

✍️ 5. How to utilize this from the perspective of a note creator💬📘

• Have the AI suggest titles, then add 'your own meaning' to polish them

• Have the AI think of article structures, then adjust them by comparing them with 'your own questions'

• Ask yourself, 'Why is this necessary for me right now?' regarding the generated ideas, re-questioning the meaning

This process itself is already 'learning to co-create meaning'🌱🧩

🌟 6. The 'Power to Find Meaning' Shines Especially in the AI Era!

• AI gives us 'information'

• But it is we humans who give it 'meaning'✨

And from now on, the 'power to create meaning' together with AI will become an essential skill for education, business, and creation!

In the next chapter, along with a summary of what we have covered so far, I will deliver the 'final seed of meaning' I want to ask you about🌱💭 Let's enjoy the final stretch together!

📝 Summary | The power to find meaning will change your future🌱🔍

Thank you so much for reading this far!
There is only one thing I wanted to convey to you through this column—

✅ A quick recap of what we covered in this column! 📚

🔹 'Meaning' is not something that exists from the start, but a variable that is born from your own perspective, context, and interpretation.
🔹 If you factorize it mathematically, it becomes a function where 'meaning' is determined by subject × situation × your interpretation. 📐
🔹 Physically speaking, meaning only appears when the observer has the 'will to see.' ⚛️👁️
🔹 The 'power to find meaning' is effective in all aspects of daily life—education, business, life, and creation. 💼🎓🎨
🔹 While the power to find meaning is a source of creativity, you can avoid misinterpretation by simultaneously honing the 'power to re-question' and 'power to verify'. 🛑💬
🔹 And in the AI era, a future of 'co-creating' meaning is beginning through human inquiry × AI analytical power. 🤖💬

💡 Finding meaning is 'reconstructing the relationship between the world and yourself.'

A tiny sense of discomfort,
a word you encountered by chance,
an experience that didn't go as planned—

The only one who can give meaning to all of these is 'you yourself'. ✨

💬 Finally, a question for you 🪨🌟

That 'realization' will surely breathe new life into your future work, learning, and Note articles. 🍃🖋️

Next up is finally the 'Afterword'! ✍️
To you, who traveled through this column with me, I will deliver my thoughts as an author and a proposal for the future. 🌈💌

✍️ Afterword | On a journey to find 'meaning' together with you 🌍💬

I wrote this column together with the generative AI, ChatGPT, while exploring a new form of expression: 'Inquiry into learning' × 'Co-creation with AI'. 🤖🧠

We live in an era where humans and AI can 'deepen inquiries' together.
This article itself embodies that attempt as a small experiment. 🔬✨

🌈 What is this series, 'The Science of Thought'?

'Thinking,' 'liking,' and 'scientizing'—
It is a Note series that cherishes the moments when such intellectual curiosity is born from everyday life. 📚💡

• Business insights 💼

• Re-questioning education 🧑‍🏫

• Redesigning life 🛠️

• And, discoveries as a creator writing on Note 🖋️✨

If this column could light a small lamp for your journey of thought, I would be more than happy.😊🕯️

💌 Your form of support nurtures future themes.🌱

• Your 'Likes❤️' and 'Follows👤' become the energy that drives me toward the next 'theme of inquiry.'🚀✨

• Voices saying 'I want to read about this theme too!' are also very welcome!📣😊

See you again in the next 'Science of Thought.'📘🌱

Profile | Kazuomi Matsunaga

Biography: Graduated from a national university engineering department in Kyushu (Materials Engineering) ⇒ Engineer at a metal materials manufacturer in the Chukyo region (Production Technology) ⇒ Advertising sales for a local free paper in Nagasaki Prefecture ⇒ Educational institution staff (← I am here now). A person in their 50s living in Nagasaki Prefecture.

I am a writer who plays with thoughts every day at the intersection of 'questions' and 'curiosity.' Recently, I have been writing about my own unique perspectives on themes such as education, stories, psychology, AI, and design, centered on my serialized column, the 'Science of Thought' series. I am exploring 'free design of knowledge' that goes beyond existing frameworks. My motto is 'Imagination opens up the world.'

In my main profession, while being involved in university and education-related work, I value carefully observing the moments when 'people start to like something' and the scenes where 'questions sprout.'

🧭 I would be happy if I could deliver articles that leave you with a 'new perspective' after reading them.

📮 Impressions and messages of support are always welcome!