{"id":71027,"date":"2026-03-05T11:07:40","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T10:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/?p=71027"},"modified":"2026-03-05T11:07:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T10:07:43","slug":"over-interpretation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/over-interpretation\/","title":{"rendered":"Over-Interpretation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At school, we practice interpreting texts\u2014in the school of life, we learn to read people: how do I interpret gestures, looks, or words? Pure perception becomes all the more important lest mere speculation guide our actions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our tendency for interpretation is wonderfully exemplified in Paul Watzlawick\u2019s story of the man with the hammer.<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Today, empathic appreciation and nonjudgmental listening are becoming increasingly important\u2014for the younger generation as well. \u201cWe listen, and we don\u2019t judge\u201d is a trend on social media. Consciousness is growing that prejudices are often rooted in specific interpretations, not only of behavior or situations, but also of characteristics: for example, that black skin indicates inferiority or that a disability predicted by ultrasound signifies a worthless life. Many assumptions (and provisions) are based on prior interpretations. Whether I interpret life only biologically or also spiritually will change how I evaluate the morality of abortion; or if I interpret the fact that animals cannot write petitions to mean that I am free to do whatever I want to them since I\u2019m a superior being, then my willingness to spare them pain diminishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assumptions in Minneapolis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

How do I interpret my power? How do I interpret humanity? When Donald Trump responds to criticism that he is violating international law by saying that the only things constraining him are his \u201cown morality\u201d and his \u201cown mind,\u201d it sounds like a perversion of the ethical individualism found in Rudolf Steiner\u2019s The Philosophy of Freedom<\/em> as well as the European Enlightenment (\u201cHave courage to use your own<\/em> understanding!\u201d).<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Though it\u2019s hardly likely that the U.S. president is familiar with Steiner\u2019s book, Trump\u2019s self-exoneration seems like a monstrous misinterpretation of moral freedom. In essays written by high school graduates for their Abitur<\/em> [German university entrance exam], arbitrary and unfounded interpretations are considered mistakes; but for some politicians, arbitrariness is part of the system. The ICE officer who shot a mother of three in her car in Minneapolis interpreted her presumably panicked reaction to him and his colleagues as a sign that he himself was in danger. But what emotional preconceptions may have been behind his assumption? What is the mood in the U.S. that seems to be replacing \u201cdon\u2019t judge!\u201d with self-justice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Horizon of Expectations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We cannot avoid interpreting social processes and signs. Communication theories serve primarily to raise awareness. Everything has meaning\u2014even things that are indirect and nonverbal. Sometimes we only hint at how we feel and hope the other person will interpret this as a silent request\u2014to ask or not to ask, to help when we\u2019re in need, or to think over patterns of behavior. Without interpretation, there can be no empathy. But what if my \u201cinterpretative approach\u201d (as it is referred to by specialists) is wrong? When analyzing a text, this doesn\u2019t matter, because here the point is to examine, prove, or disprove one\u2019s own thesis. I am in dialogue with the text; I draw on certain aspects and question others. Similarly, I can describe my impressions to someone in a social situation, enabling them to tell me whether I\u2019m right or wrong. But what schools require and assess with grades that determine our future is not something we seem to ever take to heart in public. There is a need for a climate of trust: talking to one another and taking the level of inter<\/em>pretation into account. When this is done between nations, it\u2019s called diplomacy. It\u2019s important to be able to reveal our interpretations to others while staying open to questions. Students often worry that they will misinterpret something or fail to meet expectations. The technical term for this is \u201chorizon of expectations,\u201d because in literature, I cannot boil everything down to a single point as I can in mathematics. There is room for play, and there are also gray areas, readings that the author themselves were not even aware of. Something may lie within the horizon of possibilities that one had not even considered as an option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do You Actually Interpret Yourself Correctly?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Accusations made in conflicts such as \u201cThat\u2019s just your interpretation!\u201d, \u201cYou\u2019re completely misinterpreting me!\u201d, or \u201cYou don\u2019t understand!\u201d are ultimately based on nothing more than one-sided assumptions. Someone misunderstood the understanding of someone else. The concept of \u201cbody language\u201d brings together this interpersonal and literary aspect. How do I interpret the other person\u2019s body correctly? How about their gestures? \u201c\u2018No\u2019 means no\u201d? In certain situations, where we need a clear yes or no, there are words that it\u2019s not possible to misunderstand. But apart from these moments (but perhaps also including them), life is fluid, processual, and playful\u2014we try things out, testing the waters. No text is ever exhausted; encounters can also have their (karmic) aftermath, and only rarely is an interpretation free from alternatives or some behavior unambiguous. What is necessary, however, is to talk about the films running through our heads and the hammer stories (a la Watzlawick) that we\u2019re creating; the question being posed is unavoidable: Have I interpreted you correctly? When other people no longer mean anything to each other, civilization will come to an end only when we no longer help each other answer the equally valid question: Are you actually interpreting yourself correctly?<\/span>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politically, a lot depends on how leaders in the East and West interpret each other\u2019s intentions. Is a hand that is cautiously extended still being noticed? Europe must remain a place of dialogue and flexibility,<\/span>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span> just as in everyday life, each individual can contribute to ensuring that the horizon of hope, freedom, and justice is not obscured. The children of Ren\u00e9e Nicole Good, the woman shot in Minneapolis, expect this of us, as does the entire younger generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Translation <\/strong>Joshua Kelberman
Image<\/strong> U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol officers on Nicollet Avenue on January 24, 2026. This occurred after the shooting of Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti, who was the second person killed by federal agents in Minneapolis that month and the third person shot. Photo: Chad Davis, CC BY 4.0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At school, we practice interpreting texts\u2014in the school of life, we learn to read people: how do I interpret gestures, looks, or words? Pure perception becomes all the more important lest mere speculation guide our actions. Our tendency for interpretation is wonderfully exemplified in Paul Watzlawick\u2019s story of the man with the hammer. Today, empathic appreciation and nonjudgmental listening are becoming increasingly important\u2014for the younger generation as well. \u201cWe listen, and we don\u2019t judge\u201d is a trend on social media. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9164,"featured_media":70719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9115,8788],"tags":[11764,11765,8824],"class_list":["post-71027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consciousness","category-essay-en","tag-ausgabe-8-2026-en","tag-english-issue-10-2026","tag-spotlights"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71027"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71050,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71027\/revisions\/71050"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}