Meaning is generalized to the extent that it can be made independent of differences in each dimension, i.e. independent of when something is experienced, of what is experienced, and of who does the experiencing. Adequate generalization of meaning is a precondition for the relatively context-free and situation-free use of meaningful content and thus for any sort of technicalization. The most important instrument of generalization is language.

DEFINE: Defines generalization of meaning as the stripping of time-, content-, and subject-specificity, with language as its chief instrument.

Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, loc. 733