When something is inconsistent, it can be difficult to understand.
Coherence , from the Latin cohaerentia , is the cohesion or relationship between one thing and another. The concept is used to name something that is logical and consistent with respect to an antecedent .
For example: “The secretary showed his coherence and resigned following the dismissal of his boss” , “What you are saying is not coherent” , “The president stated that he will continue to work coherently to solve the population's problems” .
Examples of coherence and incoherence
The coherent, therefore, maintains the same line with a previous position . If a man says that he would never leave his country and, a few weeks later, he travels to settle abroad, he will have had incoherent (not coherent) behavior. On the other hand, if a footballer claims that he would not play for a club other than the one where he debuted and then rejects a million-dollar offer from another team, it can be said that he is a coherent person.
Coherence is also associated with that which is understandable from logic . A politician will speak coherently if he does not make promises that are impossible to keep or distort reality. The opposite would be that you promise things that you cannot fulfill.
Relevance depending on the context
This concept is especially subjective , given that the lack of coherence can be very serious in certain contexts, but unimportant in others. In the examples given above, especially with regard to the decisions and promises of a government, being consistent with one's own statements and plans is synonymous with responsibility, and is a trait that citizens look for in their leaders in order to trust them. they.
However, life is made up of thousands of trivial situations, such as choosing a flavor of ice cream or a color of shoes , and in no way can a sudden change or contradiction in such decisions represent a negative trait of a person, nor a threat to the safety of those around him, despite being valid examples of lack of coherence.
Coherence can be associated with logic.
Coherence in today's world
On another, deeper level, current societies are characterized by a lack of coherence between the needs of citizens and their actions. Very commonly, human beings feel lost, especially when we reach certain key points in our lives, as if we do not know who we are, what our objectives are, why we act in one way or another. That feeling of not having control over ourselves is related to the lack of connection that exists between our deep desires and what we really do.
Why do we choose to study a university degree that does not represent our true vocation? Why do we get married if we prefer to be single? Why do we have children before achieving the economic and emotional stability necessary to raise a family?
Not acting consistently when making such decisions can seriously affect us for the rest of our lives, as well as the rest of the people involved, such as being a partner and children. But this is not a mere mistake, but the consequence of a strong influence that conditions us from the moment we are born, and that is transmitted to us by our elders and the media: the world tells us how we should be, what we should do, what we must like it and, in many cases, we end up believing it; Although, sooner or later, the truth emerges.
The term in linguistics
For linguistics , textual coherence is the state of a text in which its components act in supportive sets. This means that, beyond the unitary entities and secondary ideas, it is possible to find a global meaning around a main theme.
Words, sentences, and paragraphs cohere to create the meaning of a chapter, while chapters cohere to the unity of a book.