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runj__ | 3 years ago

I was thinking about a system for pulling data from verbal nonsense the other day, speaking in tongues or something similar. I can create a bunch of noises that lack obvious meaning for me, but obviously they have some meaning that can be learned since humans are terrible at being truly random (lol XD).

I wonder what level I would be able to share ideas I lack the words for, my perceived bitrate at creating "random" noise is certainly higher than when verbally communicating an idea to another human. Will we even share a common language in the future? Or will we have our own language that is translated to other people?

discuss

order

masswerk|3 years ago

Well, I can only answer with kind of a pun. With Wittgenstein, language is a constant conversation about the extent of the world, about what is and what is not. As such, it is necessarily shared. In the tractatus we find,

> 5.62 (…) For what the solipsist means is quite correct; only it cannot be said, but makes itself manifest. The world is my world: this is manifest in the fact that the limits of language (of that language which alone I understand) mean the limits of my world. [1]

So, something could become apparent, but you would still haven't said anything (as it's not part of that conversation). ;-)

[1] https://www.masswerk.at/digital-library/catalog/wittgenstein...

(I deem this edition to be somewhat appropriate in context.)