From: spike66 (spike66@attbi.com)
Date: Fri Dec 20 2002 - 13:06:25 MST
Charlie Stross wrote:
>
> It's not a book; it's a magazine.
So true. A magazine, not a read. {8-]
> Eeeeewww!!!!
>
> Have you ever tried using speech recognition software for anything
> creative?
Sure. What I am proposing is a Newspeak-like subset
of English that is specially designed for talking to
our computers. It wouldn't be used for poetry, you cannot
talk your sweetheart into bed with it (unless she is
turned on by that sort of thing: "...double good human
female, the double plus good breasts belonging to subject
equals plus large hormonal response in viewer...")
> Right. "Don't do that, it'll break the software." In other words, let's
> dumb ourselves down enough to use pre-broken tools.
By using Newspeak or equivalent, we would give software
developers a fighting chance at teaching computers what
we are saying, until the day we manage to teach computers
to understand humans on a human level. Actually this may
require a greater than human intelligence since humans
are very difficult to understand by human level
intelligences. I consider myself a human level
intelligence, and I sure don't understand humans.
Speech recognition software is actually getting
pretty good, btw, as far as recognizing words.
As for extracting meaning from a conversation,
we still have a loooong way to go.
>>Do review Orwell's newspeak in the wonderful novel 1984.
>>He proposed a universal subset of English in which words
>>are unambiguously defined and redundant words eliminated.
>>All ungood words would equal unhere. Language would
>>equal double plus easy.
>
> You _are_ aware that he didn't think this was a good idea, I hope?
>-- Charlie
Well sure, Charlie, *he* didn't think Newspeak a good
idea, *I* think it is a good idea.
English is too big and bloated, too ambiguous in too
many usages, too many cognates. Its the spoken
equivalent of Ada. {8-[ Great for crossword puzzles,
bad for teaching to humans. It should tell us something
when so many Japanese and Chinese immigrants to
Taxifornia become fluent in Spanish but never do
really grok English.
Blair was so very insightful, considering that his
classic 1984 was written in the late 40s. He anticipated
governments using "wag the dog" techniques, manipulation
of news cycles with fake wars, and perhaps his most
important insight for today: what happens as information
technology inevitably advances without corresponding
reduction in the authority of government. Trying to
stop infotech with law is chasing the wind, ordering
the tide off of the beach. We must compensate away
government authority by voting for ever lower taxes,
for instance.
1984 should be required reading for all extropians.
spike
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