Loup, Thanks for the link. Those 37 ways might help build a truth maintenance system.
On Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 9:06 AM, Loup Vaillant-David <[email protected]>wrote: > Okay, at this point, I have to recommend the sequence mentioned in the > subject. Here: > > http://lesswrong.com/lw/od/37_ways_that_words_can_be_wrong/ > > Simply put, a human mind have a certain structure, most of which is > universally shared among functioning members of a human society (like > the expression and recognition of certain emotions). Those aspects > are virtually unchanging. > > It should then be obvious that some languages are better than others > at helping our specie communicate —and come up with— thoughts. Which > they are may depend in the kind of thought involved. (One can draw a > very close analogy with the suitability of programming languages.) > > Now the question of language decay is a technical one: do recent > evolution actually hindered such and such type of thinking, or are we > just annoyed at having to constantly learn new terminology? I dare > say we have instances of both. > > > > People who love to lie get along without words meaning things. > > > > ...I won't comment on that nonsense. > > I will. You can see this in action in many philosophical debates, > especially the everlasting match of Religion vs Atheism. At some > point, the one who is losing the debate will often say that truth is > relative, is a matter of point of view, or even a matter of faith… > > Then they reject the law of non-contradiction. Like, "okay, we don't > believe the same things, but that doesn't mean one of us is *wrong*." > > In colloquial language, "Truth" has a simple, precise meaning. > "Belief" has another simple, precise meaning. Those meanings are > evident to most people who have ever tossed a coin, and waited for a > second before they looked at it. > > When discussing certain subjects such as philosophy, those notions are > important enough to warrant the use of short words to refer to them. > But if words don't mean anything, the meaning themselves are no longer > accessible. I don't care if you believe in God, but I won't forgive > you for denying me access to notions that you don't like. Or simply > disregard anything you have to say about the subject. > > Loup. > > > > On Thu, Apr 04, 2013 at 11:32:47PM +0200, Gath-Gealaich wrote: > > On Thu, Apr 4, 2013 at 11:13 PM, Kirk Fraser <[email protected] > >wrote: > > > > > Liberal dictionaries have definitions that are by default wrong. > > > > > > There's no such thing as "liberal dictionaries". > > > > > > > For evidence of language decay, read definitions from the 1988 > > > Webster's Collegiate vs. the current Webster's. Pure word and > definition > > > is needed to understand truth. > > > > > > There's no such thing as "pure words". Language is a dynamic, evolving, > > feedback-driven entity that grows and adapts to new conditions, with > > meanings of words broadening ("dog"), narrowing ("hound"), > > shifting("computer") etc. > > > > > > > People who love to lie get along without words meaning things. > > > > > > ...I won't comment on that nonsense. > > > > > > > For example the current political fight on "marriage" demonstrates > some > > > people couldn't care less for truth, only for employer's spouse > benefits to > > > be shared with roommates. > > > > > > "Political fight on marriage"? I don't live in the US, so I have little > > understanding what you're talking about, but the word "marriage" seems to > > be applied in most cultures over the globe for some sort of binding > social > > contract between individuals related to nurturing younglings for the next > > generation, yielding vastly different rights and obligations from such > > union across the different cultures. This makes the meaning of the word > > "marriage" highly contextual. (But I admit freely that my understanding > of > > cultural anthropology is limited to having skimmed through the > Encyclopedia > > of World Cultures. It was worth it, though - and quite fascinating at > that.) > > > > - Gath > > _______________________________________________ > fonc mailing list > [email protected] > http://vpri.org/mailman/listinfo/fonc > -- Kirk W. Fraser http://freetom.info/TrueChurch - Replace the fraud churches with the true church. http://congressionalbiblestudy.org - Fix America by first fixing its Christian foundation. http://freetom.info - Example of False Justice common in America
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