Describing something as... indescribable?

This is just a random thought (fittingly enough in random thoughts ), but is describing something as indescribable a paradox? You're describing it as not being describable? So you're describing it, yet... That's so odd.

 

no, because a description necessarily increases your understanding of an object or things appearance, function or nature, it "indescribable" tells you nothing about it.

 

I see what you mean, but doesn't it increase your understanding that there is no description, or that it's just that magnificent?

 

I'd say so for the reasons autophobe2e mentioned.

 

just think of it as a contraction for "not really describable beyond the fact of its difficulty to be described."

 

What all of you said definitely makes sense. Agreed.

Yeah, that's a good way to look at it. I think that rather than a paradox it's more of irony. :2thumbsup:

 

nope, because we only understand things by dint of comparison. if i told you something was "big" this would increase your understanding because you would mentally now be able to compare it to other things that you would categorise as "big". with every descriptive word, you understanding will increase because you will have more ways of comparing the imagined objects to ones which are already familiar to you. thus your mental picture, by comparison, will become more detailed.

if something is "indescribable" then your understanding will not increase because you will still have nothing to compare it to, not having a mental store of familiar items which you would categorise as "indescribable". the term "indescribable" cannot increase your understanding because it prevents comparison, which is our method of understanding unfamiliar concepts or objects.

the only way "indescribable" would be useful is if you thought: " well, the guy whose said this to me has said it about similar things in the past, therefore maybe it's similar to other things with which i am familiar which i know he is unable to describe. or maybe he just means "good", probably that."

 

although i do get your point, i think it's important to remember that labeling something is not the same as describing it. so while "un-label-able" would be a paradox because "un-label-able" is in itself a label. "indescribable" is not a paradox because indescribable is not descriptive, in that it does nothing to increase your understanding of an objects nature, function or appearance.