# Interpretation Interpretation can be defined as the process of making sense of observations and experience through the lens of existing theories and [Explanations](Explanations.md). Interpretation will always yield a *new* [Explanation](Explanations.md). To interpret something is to observe something and come up with an explanation of what it is. [All Observations are Theory Laden](All%20Observations%20are%20Theory%20Laden.md) and thus whether you are observing marks of symbols on a piece of paper, clouds in the sky, or the facial expression of your spouse, you will *interpret* those observations in light of your best explanations and theories. This may be explicit or implicit. For example consider looking at your spouse and seeing that their face is quite angry and it appears to be directed at you. There are many interpretations that could be had here. Given your background knowledge and explanations of people in general you know that angry faces tend to mean someone is upset with you. But you may know that your spouse tends to give you that look when you are public and they annoyed with something unrelated to you. Or you may be in the middle of a game of charades and they are trying to mimic the face of The Grinch. And so on. So whether you interpret their face as "Uh oh, what have I done wrong?" or "Aha! I think they are trying to mirror the face of Whoville's most notorious curmudgeon", depends on your best existing explanations and understanding of the situation. The observations are theory laden, and your interpretation consists of a *new explanation*. However, not all interpretations are equal - we are not wandering into the fog of [Relativism](Relativism.md). We can avoid arbitrary interpretations by remembering that [Rational Inquiry Requires Pursuing Good Explanations](Rational%20Inquiry%20Requires%20Pursuing%20Good%20Explanations.md). And thus the best interpretation is the one that provides the best explanation. From an [Information](Information.md) point of view, interpretation is always going to be about information processing in some way, as all [Explanations](Explanations.md) will be. The physical and mathematical nature of can be seen more in [Constructor Theory of Information](Constructor%20Theory%20of%20Information.pdf). --- Date: 20241210 Links to: Tags: References: * []()