"Nothing can have meaning by itself, but only in relation to whatever other meanings we already know." What keeps this view of meaning from collapsing. First, at least it is plausible. Seocnd, rich networks of meanings provide many routes for solving problems -- as long as the meaning system isn't "mush" because of too *many* interrelationships!
"The secret of what anything means to us depends on how we've connected it to all the other things we know. That's why it's almost always wrong to seek the `real meaning' of anything. A think with just one meaning has scarcely any meaning at all."
(NB: That Minsky has this view of meaning doesn't surprise me, seeing as it parallels his notion of an agency. Can individual agents have meaning -- in the context of their casual role in an agency?)
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