10 MAR 2017 by ideonexus
Literacy in the Context of an MMORPG
Let us begin with the New London Group (1996) definition – the notion that literacies (plural) crucially entail sense making within a rich, multimodal semiotic system, situated in a community of practice that renders that system meaningful. Figure 1 shows the interface of the MMOG Lineage II, one of the primary virtual world contexts in which the ethnographic data described herein was collected. We might ask ourselves, how many adults (let alone tenured professors) can ‘read’ such a sp... 1 
notes
notesA game screen is a complex collection of symbols that are meaningless to traditional literacy, but they do comprise a literacy that tells a story for those who can read it.
01 JAN 2017 by ideonexus
1980 View of Software
Software is a new enough kind of thing in the world that humans are still figuring out how to deal with it. Though it can be bought and sold, you can't see, hear, touch, taste, smell, eat, or burn it. On an unlovely flat artifact called a disk may be hidden the concentrated intelligence of thousands of hours of design, for which you are expected to pay hundreds of dollars, and which you can reproduce on your own computer with perfect fidelity in less than a minute, free. Personal computers ha... 1 notes
notes22 JAN 2014 by ideonexus
We Must Learn the Language of Nature
Philosophy is written in that great book which ever lies before our gaze—I mean the universe—but we cannot understand if we do not first learn the language and grasp the symbols in which it is written. The book is written in the mathematical language, and the symbols are triangles, circles and Other geometrical figures, without the help of which it is impossible to conceive a single word of it, and without which one wanders in vain through a dark labyrinth. 
1 It is mathematical, geometrical, and we must learn its symbols to understand it.
23 OCT 2013 by ideonexus
The Chinese Room Argument
Suppose that I'm locked in a room and given a large batch of Chinese
writing. Suppose furthermore (as is indeed the case) that I know no
Chinese, either written or spoken, and that I'm not even confident that I
could recognize Chinese writing as Chinese writing distinct from, say,
Japanese writing or meaningless squiggles. To me, Chinese writing is
just so many meaningless squiggles.
Now suppose further that after this first batch of Chinese writing I am
given a second batch of Chines... 1 notes
notesAn argument against the possibility of AI, replacing a computer with an english-speaking human being performing english-instructions on chinese symbols and outputting results. This is like a computer, which does not understand the symbols it is manipulating, but the results look intelligent.
27 SEP 2013 by ideonexus
加油 as a Term of Encouragement
The Chinese characters say 加油 (Jia1 you2).加 is composed of 力 (power) and 口 (mouth). It means 'to add'油 is made out of 水 (氵, water) and 由(from/ due). It means oil.加（to add） 油（oil）= add oil or make an extra effort
加油 is a terribly common phrase in day to day life. If you want to encourage someone to carry on great work, or in a sports competition, you say 加油! A bit like 'go on!' in English.
Of course another literal meaning of 加油 is to refuel.ShaoLan explains how the symbols break down.
12 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Nature is a vast tablet, inscribed with signs
Nature is a vast tablet, inscribed with signs, each of which has its own significancy, and becomes poetry in the mind when read; and geology is simply the key by which myriads of these signs, hitherto indecipherable, can be unlocked and perused, and thus a new province added to the poetical domain. Geologists can read those symbols.
08 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
The Marvelous Invention of Indian Arithematic
It is India that gave us the ingenious method of expressing all numbers by means of ten symbols, each symbol receiving a value of position as well as an absolute value; a profound and important idea which appears so simple to us now that we ignore its true merit. But its very simplicity and the great ease which it has lent to computations put our arithmetic in the first rank of useful inventions; and we shall appreciate the grandeur of the achievement the more when we remember that it escaped...Folksonomies: mathematics base-10
Folksonomies: mathematics base-10
Quoting Pierre-Simon Laplace.
06 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Artificial Intelligence's Assumption
Artificial intelligence is based on the assumption that the mind can be described as some kind of formal system manipulating symbols that stand for things in the world. Thus it doesn't matter what the brain is made of, or what it uses for tokens in the great game of thinking. Using an equivalent set of tokens and rules, we can do thinking with a digital computer, just as we can play chess using cups, salt and pepper shakers, knives, forks, and spoons. Using the right software, one system (the...Folksonomies: artificial intelligence intelligence
Folksonomies: artificial intelligence intelligence
1 notes
notesThat intelligence works with symbols and logic that can be replicated in other mediums.
29 MAY 2012 by ideonexus
Definition of Culture
[Culture] denotes an historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms, by means of which men communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life. Folksonomies: culture definitions
Folksonomies: culture definitions
1 notes
notesVery succinct.
19 MAY 2012 by ideonexus
Definition of Culture
[Culture] denotes an historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms, by means of which men communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life. Folksonomies: culture
Folksonomies: culture
1 notes
notesSuccinct.
