# Dictionaries Cannot Contain Lived Experience by Bryant McGill > “Dictionaries describe experience and stop short of containing it. Each word is defined by other words in a closed circle, while lived reality exceeds every entry. Definitions are starting points for inquiry, open to enlargement when experience shows more.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *Belief, Language, and the Psychosomatic Feedback Loop - Livestream (May 2018)* ## Sources and Context - **Source:** [[livestreams/Belief, Language, and the Psychosomatic Feedback Loop - Livestream|Belief, Language, and the Psychosomatic Feedback Loop - Livestream]] — exact quotation from the developed livestream document. - **Conceptual context:** Vocabulary makes distinctions portable, metaphor lets one structure illuminate another, and symbolic forms allow possibilities to be explored before they become concrete actions or artifacts. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/Analog Cognition and the Architecture of Continuity|Analog Cognition and the Architecture of Continuity]] - **Article:** [[articles/Humans and AIs as Entangled Learning Systems|Humans and AIs as Entangled Learning Systems]] - **Livestream:** [[livestreams/Belief, Language, and the Psychosomatic Feedback Loop - Livestream|Belief, Language, and the Psychosomatic Feedback Loop - Livestream]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Language and Abstraction|Language and Abstraction]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Dictionaries describe experience and stop short of containing it. Each word is defined by other words in a closed circle, while lived reality exceeds every entry. Definitions are starting points for inquiry, open to enlargement when experience shows more.” — Bryant McGill, Belief, Language, and the Psychosomatic Feedback Loop - Livestream (May 2018) https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-bryant-mcgill-dictionaries-cannot-contain-experience ```