Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (1046 mails)

[Rodney Baker <rodney.baker@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 3 Mar 2011 09:06:18 Stan Goodman wrote:

> In my private view, it is reasonable to expect that names of invented
> entities in a complex system be somehow related to their function.
> [...]

<off-topic>
That is a very Hebrew way of looking at the world, Stan (and that is not 
intended to be a negative or derogatory comment, btw, merely an observation). 
Hebrew thought/language tends to be oriented around function (given that all 
Hebrew words have a verbal root) whereas Greco-Roman thought (which has 
heavily influenced most of the Western world particularly in the sciences)is 
concerned first with form.

Not that I want to start a philosophical argument here, but it was just an 
interesting comment that caused me to reflect. 

What is interesting to observe on mailing lists such as this is the diversity 
of cultural paradigms that contributors bring, which can result in people 
having slightly (or sometimes wildly) different interpretations for certain 
words. This in turn means that even though we use the same terms, we run into 
miscommunications and misundersrtanding because the same words don't mean the 
same thing to every reader. 

Many of our expectations (and uses of language) are paradigmatic, even though 
we aren't necessarily conscious of it.
</off-topic>


-- 
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Rodney Baker VK5ZTV
rodney.baker@xxxxxxxxxxxx
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