Re: What's going on here?

["Lee Sau Dan ~{@nJX6X~}" <sdlee@CS.HKU.HK>]

>>>>> "HACKER" == HACKER G N <c9709244@ALINGA.NEWCASTLE.EDU.AU> 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 |
`----------------------------------------------------------------------------'