From: Romana Machado (romana@glamazon.com)
Date: Wed Dec 18 1996 - 15:58:22 MST
I wrote:
>>Extropy *is* the quality of creative order characteristic of living systems.
>
>(emphasis added)
>
Tom Morrow responds:
>As E-prime advocates note, using "is" implies equivalence. To so define a
>term delimits its scope, and thus does a great deal more than a mere
>description. (E prime stiff deleted)
Okay, I could have just as well as said:
Extropy *means* the quality of creative order characteristic of living systems.
Or:
extropy (n.) the quality of creative order characteristic of living systems.
Which doesn't seem any worse than Max's Extropy #17 definition:
>The current definition is " "Extropy -- the extent of a person's or a
>culture's intelligence, information, vitality, diversity, opportunity, and
>[personal] growth."
Oops. Perhaps I should have put two dashes in, instead?
Tom Morrow writes:
>In brief, one ought to take definitions--and re-definitions--very, very
>seriously.
Excellent. To develop better definitions, we can generate, discuss, and
even try them out here. The seriousness of this endeavor makes it a
fascinating topic for discussion.
Romana Machado romana@glamazon.com
erotic site: http://www.glamazon.com/ "Romana Machado's Peek of the Week"
personal site: http://www.fqa.com/romana/ "Romana Machado World Headquarters"
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 14:35:54 MST