Re: Knowledge and Belief

[Mark Vines <vinesm@wholefoods.com>]

[from the observation that the catcher caught the pitch:]

la stivn. spuda mi di'e

> > Is it
> > really so outrageous to say that the catcher *knows* the
> > pitch has been thrown?
>
> Yes.
>
> Only the umpire directly "knows" that the pitch has been
> thrown and caught. Once the umpire indicates his decision,
> everybody knows. If the umpire decides that ball was not
> thrown and caught, then it wasn't under the rules of the
> game, despite appearances to the contrary. Thats the rules
> of the game. Such conflicting epistemologies led to Roberto
> Alomar spitting on the ump.If one wanted to specify a non-
> baseball epistemology, one could certainly use the x4 place
> of djuno for that. Or maybe it would be clear from context
> that some particular epistemology was being used. But this
> is a baseball game, right? Shouldn't the default epistemology
> be that of baseball?

la markl. spuda la stivn. di'e

Well, I still disagree with your position, but my disagreement
is subtle enough that I no longer feel justified in saying
that your position is ridiculous.  I withdraw that comment &
hereby apologize.

I think that the default epistemology should be the schema of
baseball, not the rules of baseball.

You may know this already, but in case others don't:  The
notion of "schema" was invented by dream researchers, &
quickly spread to the study of folklore, & from there to the
study of consciousness in general, to game theory, & thence
to AI research.  As a technical term in those fields, a
"schema" is a highly stylized, considerably simplified
mental* model of a set of observations & behaviors that
involves a similarly stylized & simplified set of
expectations; this is generally* a mental* model that
pervades an entire culture or subculture, not a mental*
model that is unique to an individual or a small group.

*(Of course, in AI research, the model may not be mental,
& its relation to culture may be more problematical.)

Anywho, the schema of the baseball diamond involves the
expectation that the catcher faces the mound & observes
the pitcher during the pitch.