Or take the example of Google maps. We do not possess a detailed digital map of the world. Yet Google maps does pick destinations consistent with human intent. It does not misunderstand what I mean by "Take me to McDonald's".
Yea. The method for interpreting vagueness correctly, is to try alternative interpretations and pick the one that makes most sense. Sadly, humans seldom do that in an argument, instead opting to maximize some sort of utility function which may be maximum for the interpretation that is easiest to disagree with.
Humans try alternative interpretations and tend to pick the one that accords them winning status. It takes actual effort to do otherwise.
Here's my draft document Concepts are Difficult, and Unfriendliness is the Default. (Google Docs, commenting enabled.) Despite the name, it's still informal and would need a lot more references, but it could be written up to a proper paper if people felt that the reasoning was solid.
Here's my introduction:
And here's my conclusion:
For the actual argumentation defending the various premises, see the linked document. I have a feeling that there are still several conceptual distinctions that I should be making but am not, but I figured that the easiest way to find the problems would be to have people tell me what points they find unclear or disagreeable.