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And what if I don't agree with your definition of "stupid"? Or, "hopeless"? Or "definition", for that matter! All words are ambiguous. What we interpret them t
by devinj 16y ago
And what if I don't agree with your definition of "stupid"? Or, "hopeless"? Or "definition", for that matter!
All words are ambiguous. What we interpret them to mean is not some hard concept, but the sum of a range of lifetime experiences with that word, giving it subtle nuance between people that nominally agree, and often more significant differences that lead people to disagree. One of the easier examples are, for example, the words "geek", "nerd", and "dork". Another one is "hacker", which is part of the title of the very site we're talking on.
- ugh 16y agoYes, there is some hyperbole in my first sentence. I won’t stop saying “art exhibition” or “modern art”. Yet calling something art is in my eyes only a nice shortcut, not much more. In what way is it even useful to answer the question “Is it art?” when you know so much about the object in question? In know how I feel when I look at Guernica. I can describe shapes, color and texture. I can read all about the history of the painting. Does calling it art or refusing to call it art change any of that? This discussion reminds me of this really great text by Eliezer Yudkowsky called “How An Algorithm Feels From Inside”[1]. [1] http://lesswrong.com/lw/no/how_an_algorithm_feels_from_inside/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/no/how_an_algorithm_feels_from_insid...