> On 18 Sep 2019, at 21:30, Alan Grayson <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > On Wednesday, September 18, 2019 at 1:14:36 PM UTC-6, John Clark wrote: > On Wed, Sep 18, 2019 at 2:55 PM Alan Grayson <[email protected] > <javascript:>> wrote: > > > You know, there are things we call "dictionaries" where words are defined. > > And all those dictionary definitions are made of words, and all those words > have there own definitions also in the dictionary, and all those words have > there own definitions also in the dictionary, and all those words have there > own definitions also in the dictionary.... and round and round we go. Another > definition is never going to break is out of that meaningless circle, to do > that you're going to need an example. After all, where do you think the > people who wrote the dictionary got the knowledge to write their book? > > > If we have no way to define "consciousness", we have no chance of > > understanding it. > > That's not true for consciousness and its not true for anything else either. > Fundamentally our understanding of the world does not come from definitions, > it comes from examples. > > John K Clark > > Where would science be without its definitions? They are decisive in knowing > what we are talking about! And there's more, much more to dictionaries, than > you claim. AG
In science, we never know. A scientist who say “we know that …” is either doing an abuse of language for being short, or is a con artist. Bruno > > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/43a058f4-4f16-4e3e-b3a8-9f29312e441f%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/43a058f4-4f16-4e3e-b3a8-9f29312e441f%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/15D5AA6C-01DC-4E65-8318-F2D4BEB800B4%40ulb.ac.be.
