I understood what the
person above wanted to get at but feel thats its deeper than that.
The Distinction between Overstanding and Understanding is a matter of context and awareness. To overstand is to comprehend a thing itself AND to have knowledge of why it is the
way it is and of its place or role in the grand scheme of things. If you can use
something or do a job, you understand and memorize enough to to act. (be a competent consumer of it) one who understands may also be able to innovate or redesign but otherwise accepts the boundaries of a thing as given.
Understanding can Drive the car,
maybe fix it,
maybe even design or improve it within its basic structure. Overstanding realizes that the design is imperfect in the way it is for reasons beyond simple engineering. For example, overstanding knows that we could have cars that use less or no gasoline but that we won't because it is not in the interest of those who control the making of cars to make them last longer, be more efficient, less expensive etc. They make their money when you buy, fuel and fix the car, so why would they
help you take thier money away?
Nevermind pollution or helping poor folks out.
The difference between Under and Over standing is the difference between seeing and acting with awareness or blindly playing a role. Understanding does the Job, and
maybe even wrote the Business Plan (the
person who wrote the business plan may understand how to set up businesses). What distinguishes Over from Under is their awareness of the forces that move things. One who overstands sees
power for what it is, but may or may not hold and use
power in the obvious sense. One who overstands knows that the business will succeed only if it extracts value from others and so is inherrently predatory. One who overstands this
fact may accept it and play anyway or refuse to exploit others.
Overstanding emerged as a word from the global hip hop culture, to
help portray the distinction between the understanding that life is difficult and the overstanding that life is more difficult than it need be because it is in the interest of those in
power to keep things as they are. Overstanding should
help but does not always liberate people.
Even though I could save money and make my girl real
happy by getting this perfect but uncertified diamond and that no one would ever find out, I overstand that it would be messed up to get it, so I didn't (or, but I got that shit anyway).
IE: I am aware of the dirty shit that goes on in the conflict diamond trade and that the diamond is
cheap for a reason and so if I get it, I risk contirbuting to the misery and death of my own
African people many of whome have it bad enough already thanks to my govenment and its racist policies.
