Marsha, as a note to the exchange below you wrote:
"Hmmm. We must be cautious of a time-scale
chauvinism."
I think I am cautious so as to avoid chauvinism but,
what would you mean by "time-scale chauvinism'?
Interested to know so as not to fall into it.
Jorge
=============
David M. writes:
"Surely a rock recurs, just by going on being
a rock, it repeats its rockness over time, a
diachronic
rather than synchronic pattern/repeat. "
Jorge: Hardly. Recurs in its sense:: "to happen, come
up or show up repeatedly"
is quite clear. If I show up repeatedly at a bar it
means that I am not at the bar in between the
occasions that "I show up". Diachronic is supposed to
mean "change" over time, not constancy over time as in
the case of a rock that is always there. A classic
example of diachrony is the function (+_ sq. y) which
gives a zigzag line, (once it is over 0 and next it is
under 0). A continuous straight line is not considered
a pattern, neither the light emitted by a (stable)
electric bulb, etc. The same holds by a rock 'being
there' always, all the time.
A repeated 'rockness' or a repeated 'loneliness
or a repeated 'smoothness' , if English doesn't fail
me, implies a feature that appears, shows up, again
and again. Not that it's always present. (From Latin
"re-" again) Which brings to my mind what the fellow
said when flattering his old auntie --- But auntie,
your skin is remarkably smooth between your
wrinkles!?
If I were to draw this: _________________
I wouldn't be representing a pattern. Whereas if I
drew this: .........................
it would be a pattern where the dot recurs, reappears
at regular intervals. Those two examples lead to an
interesting question; suppose we went on decreasing
the gaps between the dots, at which point would a
pattern become a non-pattern?
Is the buzzing of a fly a sound pattern or a steady
signal? How could we tell?
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