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<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Nick
writes:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><
</span><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#003300">Ok,
Marcus, I am standing my ground as a realist here: ():-[)</span><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">
><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">There
you go trying to claim semantics for terms in a public
dictionary again. (That’s an example of taking ground,
like in my Go example.) Doing so constrains what can even
be <b>said</b>. It puts the skeptic in the position of
having to deconstruct every single term, and thus be a
called terms like
<a
href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/kellyanne-conway-embarrasses-cnns-jim-acosta-during-heated-exchange"
moz-do-not-send="true">
smartass</a> when they force the terms to be used in other
contexts where the definition doesn’t work. A culture
itself is laden with thousands of de-facto definitions that
steer meaning back to conventional (e.g. racist and sexist)
expectations. To even to begin to question these
expectations requires having some power base, or safe space,
to work from.
</span></p>
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<p>I think this is the "genius" of Trump's campaign and tenure... he
operates from his own (and often ad-hoc) Lexicon and that reported
39% stable base of his seems happy to just rewrite their own
dictionary to match his. That seems to be roughly Kellyanne's
and Sarah's only role (and skill?), helping those who want to keep
their dictionaries up to date with his shifting use of terms and
concepts up to date. <br>
</p>
<p>It has been noted that Trump's presidency has been most
significant for helping us understand how much of our government
operates on norms and a shared vocabulary. He de(re?)constructs
those with virtually every tweet. While I find it quite
disturbing on many levels, I also find it fascinating. I've
never been one to take the media or politicians very seriously,
but he has demonstrated quite thoroughly why one not only
shouldn't but ultimately *can't*.<br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:59E73EBD-875F-4E04-8B21-6E9163676895@snoutfarm.com">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">In
this case, you assert that some discussants are software
engineers and that distinguishes them from your category. A
discussant of that (accused / implied) type says he is not a
member of that set and that it is not even a credible set.
Another discussant says the activity of such a group is a
skill and if someone lacks it, they could just as well gain
it while having other co-equal skills too. So there is
already reason to doubt the categorization you are
suggesting. <br>
</span></p>
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</blockquote>
<p>I took Nick's point to be that the Metaphors that those among us
who spend a significant amount of time writing (or desiging)
computer systems is alien to him, and that despite making an
attempt when he first came here to develop the skills (and
therefore the culture), he feels he has failed and the lingua
franca of computer (types, geeks, ???) is foreign to him. Here
on FriAM, I feel we speak a very rough Pidgen (not quite developed
enough to be a proper Creole?) admixture of computer-geek,
physics, sociology, psychology, linguistics, philosophy,
mathematics, hard-science-other-than physics, etc. <br>
</p>
<p>I sense frustration in many of us when we try to talk about our
various topics of specialty (as amatuers or professionals) with
our significantly educated (but in other (sub)disciplines)
lay-colleagues. It seems that in the attempt to be more precise
or to make evident our own lexicons for a particular subject that
we end up tangling our webs in this tower of Complexity Babel
(Babble?) we roam, colliding occasionally here and there.</p>
<p>- Sieve<br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:59E73EBD-875F-4E04-8B21-6E9163676895@snoutfarm.com">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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