Re: Information

From: Wade T.Smith (wade_smith@harvard.edu)
Date: Sat May 12 2001 - 23:22:23 BST

  • Next message: joedees@bellsouth.net: "Re: Information" 

    Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id XAA12253 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Sat, 12 May 2001 23:26:25 +0100
Subject: Re: Information
Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 18:22:23 -0400
x-sender: wsmith1@camail2.harvard.edu
x-mailer: Claris Emailer 2.0v3, Claritas Est Veritas
From: "Wade T.Smith" <wade_smith@harvard.edu>
To: "Memetics Discussion List" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Message-ID: <20010512222223.AAA10814@camailp.harvard.edu@[205.240.180.8]>
Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk
Precedence: bulk
Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk

    Hi Scott Chase -

    >Is consensus anything more than collective opinion?

    Good point, in this realm of semantics.

    Yes, a consensus is the opinioned position of a collective.

    The best use of a word is a matter of its success at being understood by
    a collective.

    Opinions about words (and words that give rise to numerous opinions) do
    not lead to the making of statements of high comprehension.

    Humpty-Dumpty-ism is, granted, an extreme opinionated position. But the
    best use of a word, or of anything, is not simply a matter of opinion,
    and never has been, except in a communicative gathering of one, which is,
    of course, impossible.

    - Wade

    `When _I_ use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, `it
    means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.'

    `The question is,' said Alice, `whether you CAN make words mean so many
    different things.'

    `The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, `which is to be master - - that's
    all.'

    ===============================================================
    This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
    Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
    For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
    see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit

    This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat May 12 2001 - 23:30:04 BST