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"If a lion could speak we wouldn't understand him." - Wittgenstein https://ideasandaction.com/if-a-lion-could-speak/ https://ideasandaction.com/if-a-lion-could
by gnarbarian 5y ago
"If a lion could speak we wouldn't understand him." - Wittgenstein
https://ideasandaction.com/if-a-lion-could-speak/ https://ideasandaction.com/if-a-lion-could-speak/
- amelius 5y agoWouldn't simple sentences with the structure subject-verb-object be universal to any rational speaker? A lion could say "I want food", or "I see dog", or "dog eats food". I don't see why a lion's worldview could be so different from ours that this wouldn't be possible.
- IIAOPSW 5y agoSVO isn't even universal in human languages.
- amelius 5y agoThe order is not important. The structure is that the sentence has a subject, verb and object.
- tsol 5y agoJust to problems off the top of my head; In order to understand "I" you have to be able to understand there's an "other". Do lions understand others are also fully capable beings? Or are they kinda of "egotistical" the way a human baby is, where they just don't really understand the concept of "other people". And do they understand what "seeing" is, so that they can use it in a sentence like that? That's also abstract, it communicates that you as a being are using your sense of sight to see a certain thing. Are lions conscious of the fact that they're seeing, or do they just see things?
- amelius 5y agoWell, perhaps the lion has more primitive cognitive capabilities, but the premise was that we wouldn't understand the lion (not the other way around).