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I wish people would think about the format they use to present their ideas more. If you're presenting arguments based on empirical evidence and logic, you are

I wish people would think about the format they use to present their ideas more. If you're presenting arguments based on empirical evidence and logic, you are building a directed graph. Using long-winded prose to represent it is the wrong data structure, which makes working with it (comprehending and contemplating its merits) difficult.

marnett 6y ago
Is there a movement, say Informational Philosophy, that embodies your thought on this? I find it interesting, but philosophers have typically used long form prose to build up their logical theories and arguments. Your argument seems to be that language is not conducive to our brains forming the graph-like relationships the prose builds up. I do not know have an intimate enough understanding of linguistics to understand if modern theories support this view.
- alexashka 6y ago
  > Is there a movement, say Informational Philosophy, that embodies your thought on this? Not that I'm aware of. This is one of few thoughts I consider novel and not yet implemented anywhere. > Your argument seems to be that language is not conducive to our brains forming the graph-like relationships the prose builds up Right. A picture is worth a thousand words. There is a hierarchy of beliefs everyone holds in their head to make sense of the world and yet nobody is drawing diagrams to represent them. If I ever make enough money for a 10 year sabbatical, I'll take a stab at this problem.
voidhorse 6y ago
That’s effectively what Wittgenstein was saying in the Tractatus, only to turn around and repudiate all of it in the Philosophical Investigations—at the end of the day, logical systems based on the manipulations of symbols are one thing while the messy reality of being human and living is quite another.
- alexashka 6y ago
  > logical systems based on the manipulations of symbols are one thing while the messy reality of being human and living is quite another. There has to be a lot of overlap, or else we wouldn't bother with logic and coherence in our everyday lives :) If we want predictive powers that we can communicate and play with, logic systems seem to be the best practical tool we've come up with.

marnett 6y ago

Is there a movement, say Informational Philosophy, that embodies your thought on this? I find it interesting, but philosophers have typically used long form prose to build up their logical theories and arguments. Your argument seems to be that language is not conducive to our brains forming the graph-like relationships the prose builds up. I do not know have an intimate enough understanding of linguistics to understand if modern theories support this view.

alexashka 6y ago
> Is there a movement, say Informational Philosophy, that embodies your thought on this? Not that I'm aware of. This is one of few thoughts I consider novel and not yet implemented anywhere. > Your argument seems to be that language is not conducive to our brains forming the graph-like relationships the prose builds up Right. A picture is worth a thousand words. There is a hierarchy of beliefs everyone holds in their head to make sense of the world and yet nobody is drawing diagrams to represent them. If I ever make enough money for a 10 year sabbatical, I'll take a stab at this problem.

voidhorse 6y ago

That’s effectively what Wittgenstein was saying in the Tractatus, only to turn around and repudiate all of it in the Philosophical Investigations—at the end of the day, logical systems based on the manipulations of symbols are one thing while the messy reality of being human and living is quite another.

alexashka 6y ago
> logical systems based on the manipulations of symbols are one thing while the messy reality of being human and living is quite another. There has to be a lot of overlap, or else we wouldn't bother with logic and coherence in our everyday lives :) If we want predictive powers that we can communicate and play with, logic systems seem to be the best practical tool we've come up with.