The problem arises if you decide that a word means something, and then use
it to mean something else - while the original meaning is still in use.
This is common across all human language. Most common among politicians,
least common across diplomats. (Let's launch the discussion of the terms to be
used while
we discuss what we are going to discuss... launch? did somebody say launch?)
Language does evolve - but simultaneous different meanings assigned randomly
reduce the comprehension.
See above
For example, what do you mean by a
negative impedance? Is it where the reactive part is negative, or where the
resistance part is negative? Yet both meanings have been used, occasionally
in the same article, but the results are very different.
This seems to me to be a case of someone failing to clear an ambiguity within
context.
Part of the problem is the growing tendency to apparently not learn English.
What exactly is english? A specimen to which we have applied fixant?
Who owns the specimen? The beauty, the real magic, of human communications
is that they are incredibly adaptive. Humans are capable of synchronizing
meaning at
very high rates. They are also capable of spectacular mistakes in this area
(who wants to buy another Mars probe?).
We uneducated bit-heads who are fascinated by the nature of language and its
application within computation,
are trying to suss how exactly this works.
If you wish to arbitrarily redefine the meaning of words
I believe the result of this (warning, context dependent usage coming up),
would be noise. I don't believe
that anyone has lost the link because of noise.
communication difficult, however. After all, what 'bandwidth' is required to
send a message? If we use the 'e-mail context' then I need a larger
bandwidth to send a large e-mail message over a given system at a given rate
than for a small e-mail.
So what exactly is the problem with this?
('spam' - although I always think of that as a product of the
Hormel Meat company)
Also, a rather humorous Monty Python routine, oh, and a term applied to
virtually :) any e-mail that
someone does not want.
Perhaps one can work it out from the context?
Disambiguate when you feel its necessary. Try to ensure (via human adaptive
verification protocols) that
communication has taken place.
Hey, anybody want to occupy some bandwidth with a discussion of high voltage
(120VDC-220VDC) broadband (wideband?, high bandwidth?)
(1.6Mhz-50+Mhz) solid state linear amplifiers? I am
designing/prototyping/building at the moment.
Yers in meta-nonsense...or so many metaphors, symbols, representations, so
little time...
K0IW
George K. Watson
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