Okeymaker comments on Replace the Symbol with the Substance - Less Wrong

34 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 16 February 2008 06:12PM

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Comment author: [deleted] 23 March 2015 07:20:10PM *  -1 points [-]

A good article, but what I really miss here is that you don´t explain what words and symbols are useful for. You should mention it quick in every post in the sequence, or at least link to an explanation. When I read, I agreed to what you said until a certain point.

Here it is:

Purpose is lost whenever the substance (learning, knowledge, health) is displaced by the symbol

Not always. One of the main points of nouns, what they are good for, is to INCLUDE a purpose and a context that comes with the word. A baseball isn´t just a physical substance, it is not just a round object made of a certain material. It is an object made for a certain purpose. It can be made in various ways, the word allows for variations. The word baseball means a ball that is made for use in the game of baseball. It is defined by it´s purpose (Agent Smith is badass) and can be improved and altered without losing it´s identity. If you had to explain what a baseball was every time a new model was being made and marketed, you would have a hard time.

Am I missing something or am I right?