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.
