On 2/14/2012 12:57 PM, Jack Ring wrote:
> When will the 3 hour tutorial be available as a webinar? Pls do this. (01)
It would have to be after June, since I am usually making and revising
slides up to the last minute. (02)
> Do you have any estimate of the number of relationships entailed
> in disambiguating any given word? (03)
In my previous note, I copied a review about a book on semiotics.
In the comments about the review, I made the following remark: (04)
JFS
> One comment that I especially liked is the view of human language
> as a "modeling system". That term captures what Wittgenstein was
> trying to say with his term 'Sprachspiel' (language game), but it
> has the advantage of avoiding the often misleading word 'game'. (05)
In the paragraph immediately after that, I mentioned the "infinite
range of possible uses": (06)
> That term also explains why most words in language are ambiguous:
> there is no such thing as one ideal model that can fit all possible
> ways of interpreting and talking about the world. Instead of being
> a defect of language, the option of using words in multiple ways
> is essential for adapting a finite vocabulary to an infinite range
> of possible uses.
>
> Note that the roots of all our modern languages are grounded in
> the perceptions and interpretations of our stone-age ancestors.
> The option of multiple meanings (or 'microsenses' to use a word
> coined by Alan Cruse) enables us to adapt words from the stone age (07)
I believe that this is why terminologies have (at least up to now)
been more useful than ontologies. Terminologies are much more
flexible, since they don't limit the words to just a single
precisely defined meaning. Instead, they allow the same term
to be used in as many different ways as the application requires. (08)
This does not imply that we can't have precise formal definitions.
But those precise definitions will be tied to specific models in
which the words are used -- and only indirectly to the words
themselves. Since there is no limit to the number and kinds
of possible models, there is no limit on the number of word
senses (or microsenses). (09)
Re Buckminster Fuller: Since his book was also mentioned in this
thread, anybody who might be interested can find an on-line version: (010)
http://www.rwgrayprojects.com/synergetics/ (011)
John (012)
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