bigjeff5 comments on Words as Mental Paintbrush Handles - Less Wrong

17 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 01 March 2008 11:58PM

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Comment author: Caledonian2 02 March 2008 02:26:22PM 3 points [-]

Now did you happen to notice which side of the street he was walking on (left or right), and whether he was walking towards or away from you?

Your visualizations include such details? As the description didn't include such details, they're necessarily undefined - so why did you define them out of their uncertainty?

How many of you dream in concepts rather than images?

Comment author: bigjeff5 11 February 2011 04:09:26AM *  1 point [-]

He was walking away from me, left side of the street (sidewalk, obviously), and turned left into the store.

He was also dressed in a cowboy hat, blue jeans and a brown jacket.

The drugstore was a single story downtown style store - big glass windows, and a big sign that said "DRUG STORE" above the store.

My POV would be in the street about the middle of the left lane.

All that from "a guy walked down the street and turned into a drugstore". I could get a whole lot more if I kept thinking about it, but that would kind of spoil the whole "first thing that pops into your head" bit.

[EDIT] I've been reading the Dark Tower series lately, which is probably where the cowboyish image came from.