Eliezer_Yudkowsky comments on Superexponential Conceptspace, and Simple Words - Less Wrong

28 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 24 February 2008 11:59PM

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Comment author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 25 February 2008 07:31:52PM 7 points [-]

Not every regularity of categorization is derived from physical properties local to the object itself. I watch Ben Jones returning to the facility, and notice that all the rocks he carries are vanadium-containing and weighing less than ten pounds, at a surprisingly high rate relative to the default propensity of vanadium-containing and less-than-ten-pound rocks. So I call these rocks "Spargs", and there's no reason Ben himself can't do the same.

Remember, it's legitimate to have a word for something with properties A, B where A, B do not occur in conjunction at greater than default probability, but which, when they do occur in conjunction, have properties C, D, and E at greater than default probability.