“Man is the animal that speaks. Understanding language is thus the key to understanding man” – Thomas Szasz
I believe that this quote is true. With language one can understand each other. It is the basis of communities. with communities we get specialization which leads to innovation.
How many arguments turn out to be about the meaning of words?
I have found that many arguments start from the meaning of words. Many words have different meanings. There a loads of words that are pronounced and sound similar to other words. The difference between two people who speak different languages is often a cause of conflict.
Blog questions
1. How much could you know about the world if you had no language or means of communicating with other people?
I believe that you could know very little without communicating with others.
3. Try to define as precisely as possible these words: a. triangle b. love c. table What is the difference? Which was easiest to define?
A triangle is a shape with 3 sides and angles that equal 180 degress
Love is an emotion the consist of desire and a sense of protection
A table is piece of furniture with a flat surface. It is used for work or storing goods.
Love was the hardest to define and a triangle was the easiest.
6. Do you think a robot (or Siri) could use and respond appropriately to language? What differences would it make in real life if that were the case?
Siri does have her comedic points. If you swear at her, she will get mad. This can be bad if you have a thick accent and a short temper. When they do not use similar language to what we use, many will get short with her.
8. Many jokes are based on ambuguity…can you give an example?
WHAT IF THERE WERE NO HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS?
ONE TEQUILA, TWO TEQUILA, THREE TEQUILA, FLOOR…..
IF A PARSLEY FARMER IS SUED, CAN THEY GARNISH HIS WAGES?
9. When Bill Clinton entered the White House in `93, his wife Hillary wanted to be known as “Presidential Partner”, not “First Lady”. What is the difference in connotations? If a woman ever would become president of the USA, what do yo think would be an appropriate title for her husband?
Presidential partner has more of a tone of her providing assistence and ideas. The title for the president’s husband could be “chief of house.”
10. Birds fly and planes fly. Since fish swim, why don’t we say that submarines also swim? What do submarines do?
Submarines are a naval vessel. because a submarine is a boat or vessel; they navigate the seas.
Video comments
Grammar Nazis can be unpleasant to deal with. Language is an exception invention of man.The whole process of how words were learned was very interesting. Many say that the learning of language is exponential.
TOK Fun 