CDR: Re: The Dark Horse of Intellect Rides Again
David Marshall <marshall@athena.dhis.org> writes:
to which he clearly wants more than a simple "yes" or "no." (Note that I'm not counting as sloppy thinking the problems which are inherent in most languages, such as the answer to "Is it day or night?" being "yes" in all cases.)
*slap* Now I'm doing it. It must be osmosis or something. I'm also aware that I'm nitpicking in both these posts. I should have added "and 'no; in intermediate cases such as dusk or dawn." Either way, the point is that English and most, if not all, languages I'm aware of have this particular problem. Some artificial languages, such as Lojban, tend to discourage this by, among other things, requiring or encouraging the respondant to restate the true portion of the statement.
On Tue, 19 Sep 2000, David Marshall wrote:
*slap* Now I'm doing it. It must be osmosis or something. I'm also aware that I'm nitpicking in both these posts.
I should have added "and 'no; in intermediate cases such as dusk or dawn." Either way, the point is that English and most, if not all, languages I'm aware of have this particular problem. Some artificial languages, such as Lojban, tend to discourage this by, among other things, requiring or encouraging the respondant to restate the true portion of the statement.
Any 'general' language that prohibits this sort of exclusive-OR is worthless. ____________________________________________________________________ He is able who thinks he is able. Buddha The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage@ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------
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