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I see your point and agree. The phrase, "over-analyze" just struck me as odd since it literally means about the same thing as "over-understand." And by "literally"," I intend the same thing as the dictionary does: "in the literal or strict sense."
Was that Wittgenstein before or after he changed his mind about everything?
From: Phil Stokes [mailto:philstokes03 -at- googlemail -dot- com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 11:15 AM
To: Porrello, Leonard; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: introducing steps
On 19/10/2011 00:53, Porrello, Leonard wrote:
I would have been contradicting myself only if I had left off the "literally", but nice try. ;-)
Not a nice try at all, just a bit of semantic pedantry on my part. ;)
Not making literal sense would be an oxymoron like 'general analysis' or 'just analyze that without going into the finer details, would you?'.
By 'over-analyze' I meant 'to analyze a situation beyond practical use'. Peter was quite right, technically, about the grammar, but it is a difference that makes no difference (or so I contended in the other part of my post) to the reader.
To paraphrase Wittgenstein, there is a point where analysis must come to an end, and there is nothing nonsensical about that. Indeed, it is when explanations of meaning do not come to an end that nonsense ensues!
:)
Best
Phil
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