djcb comments on Creating a Text Shorthand for Uncertainty - Less Wrong

6 Post author: ozziegooen 19 October 2013 04:46PM

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Comment author: djcb 19 October 2013 05:15:12PM *  4 points [-]

Reminds me of the discussion in Through The Language Glass of the Matsés people of the Amazon.

Their language has a built-in concept of evidentiality -- every time they say anything about anything, their language requires them to express the amount of evidence for the statement -- 'seen with my own eyes' until 'mere hearsay' -- paper.