X-Loop: openpgp.net
From: James A. Donald <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> But ... but .. but....the proposed definition lacks sense. We should not,
> we cannot, ignore that fact.
Definitely not. But it doesn't make sense on the level of CONCEPTS, not of
WORDS (symbols).
> Words are connected to each other in ways that should reflect the way
world
> works.
No. The way words are connected to each other is called "syntax". Their
*meanings*, the concepts those words indicate, should reflect the way the
world works. The concept of "world" is represented, on various levels, by
many words - world, Earth, people, not to mention the words from foreign
languages.
> Stipulating arbitrary and unreasonable definitions breaks the
> connections, and people who employ definitions that lack sense cannot make
> sense. We are not free to give words any meaning we choose. They are
> embedded in history and in the world.
Come on... the language grows because we give new meanings to the words. I
agree with you that people think using words in a certain language, but you
should keep in mind the difference between words, concepts, and things.
Words are just the representation of a certain concept in a certain
language. The concept the word "brzzx" represents is chosen by the one using
it, not by the word itself. Only people give meanings to words.
Mark
