Is a definition really the appropriate way to handle the concept? I was under the impression that the word “status” refers to some collection of internal variables in the human brain, where by “internal” I mean intermediate, not necessarily corresponding to individual features of the outside world; what might be a called a hanging node if not for the fact our actions depend on it and other people care about it. In such a case, attempting to define it makes no sense, only to describe how it interacts with the rest of the system, as it’s not even meaningful on its own.
A definition for “status” is simply an answer to the question “what do you mean by status”. If we frequently use the word, then we should have some relatively agreed-upon definition for it, or at least give our own definition whenever someone asks. If we everyone means something else when they say “status”, then we’ll never succeed in communicating to others the things we want to communicate to them.
If you say the term “status” refers to some collection of internal variables in the human brain, and then describe how those variables interact with other things, then that’s a definition of status as well.
Is a definition really the appropriate way to handle the concept? I was under the impression that the word “status” refers to some collection of internal variables in the human brain, where by “internal” I mean intermediate, not necessarily corresponding to individual features of the outside world; what might be a called a hanging node if not for the fact our actions depend on it and other people care about it. In such a case, attempting to define it makes no sense, only to describe how it interacts with the rest of the system, as it’s not even meaningful on its own.
I’m not sure if I understand what you mean.
A definition for “status” is simply an answer to the question “what do you mean by status”. If we frequently use the word, then we should have some relatively agreed-upon definition for it, or at least give our own definition whenever someone asks. If we everyone means something else when they say “status”, then we’ll never succeed in communicating to others the things we want to communicate to them.
If you say the term “status” refers to some collection of internal variables in the human brain, and then describe how those variables interact with other things, then that’s a definition of status as well.
Ah, you are using the word “definition” in a more inclusive way than I am. I would call that a characterization, not a definition.