[ExI] Free will was: Everett worlds

[William Flynn Wallace]

Nobody said that the examples were perfect. In fact, I think that a good
definition-by-example would involve many examples of the concept in
question (watch a dog show), and furthermore, show differences that might
not be apparent on a few looks -  or even a lot of looks, such as the
difference between a dog and a similar looking wolf..    Democracy = the U.
S. is just ludicrous.
bill w

On Sun, Sep 13, 2020 at 4:20 PM Dan TheBookMan via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> On Sun, Sep 13, 2020 at 8:09 PM William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat
> <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
> >
> > Do you think, John, that kids cannot define the words they use?  Sure,
> they see a man doing the high jump and learn the definition of that skill.
> I would argue that examples ARE definitions.  But abstractions are much
> harder to provide examples of, which is why people like me cannot grok
> quantum theory.  You can't show it to me.  Usage, for us liberal guys, is
> what defines words, and the dictionaries follow that, mostly, though some
> hold out for years, as they did on 'ain't'.  It is for sure a word.
> >
> > I am peculiar, as we all know.  I spent a good deal of my life, and
> still a part of it, with my nose in a dictionary, preferably a big one -
> right now I have three large tomes of the OED - too expensive online - and
> an icon that sends me directly to etymology.com.  I also need one for
> modern slang.  "Mansplained" is a recent entry for me.  bill w
>
> In ordinary usage -- and even in non-ordinary usage -- there is a
> difference between an example and a definition. Showing someone an
> example -- for instance, showing my neighbor's dog -- is not the same
> as offering a definition. Now it's true in real life people often
> offer up examples to clarify meaning, but that's not the same as
> offering up a definition. (And, sadly, there is sometimes the common
> confusion here of saying of someone or something that they are 'the
> very definition of' some word.)
>
> Showing an example sometimes works well enough but can be confusing
> too -- as in what's the relevant feature of the example? For instance,
> imagine someone doesn't know what democracy is and you say, 'Well,
> like the US today.' Might that not lead to confusion?
>
> Regards,
>
> Dan
>
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