If math can be built by assuming a very short list of obvious things and deducing everything else in terms of those few assumptions, why not all language?
I thought about using math as the “semantic primes” for all language. I think there are some interesting questions there.
Let’s go even further, and cut out a big part of math, by only starting with computations.
So basically the scenario is, we’re trying to communicate with aliens, and the only thing we can do is send computer programs. We can’t even send 2d pictures, because we don’t know how they perceive things. We initially don’t know what their world is like—perhaps we don’t even know if they’re in the same universe, with the same physics. They could be experiencing an entirely different reality. They’re similarly ignorant of us.
So it seems to me, all we can do is send “computational sketches” of our world. When we send a computational structure, all we know is that they’re going to have to guess “this computation is somehow relevant” (like a Gricean maxim).
So we send little simulations of physics, like bouncing balls, orbiting spheres, chemistry simulations, etc. It won’t be easy for them to piece everything together, but if we send enough simulations with enough hints about how different simulations relate to each other, then maybe they’ll get the idea.
If we want to ask them for help with a problem, we have to send something like a simulation demonstrating the problem.
It’s very difficult to communicate negation this way. The implication of every computational sketch is “this is somehow relevant”, so, you can’t easily negate anything.
At some point you can introduce language into your sketches, though, EG by having characters with dialogue, perhaps something like a computational sketch of a child learning language from a parent.
It seems to me like this thought-experiment says something deep about communicating semantic content, but I’m not sure exactly how to spell it out.
I thought about using math as the “semantic primes” for all language. I think there are some interesting questions there.
Let’s go even further, and cut out a big part of math, by only starting with computations.
So basically the scenario is, we’re trying to communicate with aliens, and the only thing we can do is send computer programs. We can’t even send 2d pictures, because we don’t know how they perceive things. We initially don’t know what their world is like—perhaps we don’t even know if they’re in the same universe, with the same physics. They could be experiencing an entirely different reality. They’re similarly ignorant of us.
So it seems to me, all we can do is send “computational sketches” of our world. When we send a computational structure, all we know is that they’re going to have to guess “this computation is somehow relevant” (like a Gricean maxim).
So we send little simulations of physics, like bouncing balls, orbiting spheres, chemistry simulations, etc. It won’t be easy for them to piece everything together, but if we send enough simulations with enough hints about how different simulations relate to each other, then maybe they’ll get the idea.
If we want to ask them for help with a problem, we have to send something like a simulation demonstrating the problem.
It’s very difficult to communicate negation this way. The implication of every computational sketch is “this is somehow relevant”, so, you can’t easily negate anything.
At some point you can introduce language into your sketches, though, EG by having characters with dialogue, perhaps something like a computational sketch of a child learning language from a parent.
It seems to me like this thought-experiment says something deep about communicating semantic content, but I’m not sure exactly how to spell it out.