Consider the word "moment": I am sure most of us instantly conjure up
the notion of a brief passage of time. "Moment" is a duration. But,
think of the moment of inertia or angular moment (often, angular
momentum).
Consider the related words "prove" and "proof": I am sure that most of
us imagine a process that vindicates a proposition. "Ha! That proves
I'm right!" Now consider the old saying, "The exception proves the
rule." Again, most probably understand that to mean that the exception
vindicates the rule, but that is self-contradictory. Or the other
saying, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating." From these, it's
possible to glean the notion, not of vindicating, but of testing. It
does make sense to observe that an exception to a rule tests whether
the rule is adequate. And the success of the pudding is tested by
eating it: if it's bad, you'll know when you put it in your mouth.
Now, when you perform these little considerations, notice how
differently you "felt" cognitively as you repositioned your notions of
what the words signify.
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Michael Brady
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
