Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 00:49:38 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <199710270549.AAA21110@locke.ccil.org> Reply-To: "Lee Sau Dan ~{@nJX6X~}" Sender: Lojban list From: "Lee Sau Dan ~{@nJX6X~}" Subject: Re: What's going on here? To: lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu In-Reply-To: HACKER G N's message of Mon, 27 Oct 1997 14:29:47 +1100 X-Mozilla-Status: 0011 Content-Length: 2842 X-From-Space-Date: Mon Oct 27 00:50:09 1997 X-From-Space-Address: LOJBAN@CUVMB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU >>>>> "HACKER" == HACKER G N writes: HACKER> Well, one reason that I don't think I think "in" any HACKER> language, is that when there are words in my head, I am HACKER> always aware of the thought I have BEFORE I construct the HACKER> language for that thought in real time. My thoughts seem HACKER> gestalt, but my language seems linear. They seem like HACKER> different things. I don't think in any particular languages, either. Like you, I often have the ideas come up simultaneously before I can fetch the suitable words to represent them and put them into a sequence. Sometimes, I'd have difficulty in fetching the words, because some ideas are not representable with existing words. I have to use clumsy phrases to represent them. I also think visually. I've been asked many times how I do visual think. I didn't know how to explain. Recently, I've found an example that I think would be easy to understand. Think of the game of tetris. Many people have played that game. When they play that game, they have to think about how to fit the falling block into the current board. How do you do that thinking when you play tetris? Do you talk to yourself something like "hey, move left 2 units, rotate 90 degress clockwise, and the drop it down"? Or do you just "feel" about this without using words to talk to yourself? Have you ever watched your friend playing tetris? If so, do you often think when he is playing, and sometimes want to tell him how to place the falling block? How do you tell him? You did it verbally, I suppose. But before you try to tell him, you must have thought about it. Did you do the thinking in words? Or do you form the sentences only when you need to tell him your idea? HACKER> It reminds me of when I did postgraduate research in HACKER> philosophy. It sometimes involved inventing new terms so I HACKER> could describe better what I meant. Agree. I have the same experience. In Computer Science, we tend to borrow words from everyday life into the technical discussion instead of coining completely new words. So, we have "cache", "window", "tree", "table", etc. However, it's still a skill to select a suitable word to represent a new idea. I need a suitable word to explain the idea to others. An appropriate word often facilitates comprehension. It's more useful than a 1000-word paragraph explaining the idea. -- Lee Sau Dan 'u&u40(Big5) ~{@nJX6X~}(HZ) .----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | http://www.cs.hku.hk/~sdlee e-mail: sdlee@cs.hku.hk | `----------------------------------------------------------------------------'