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Language is ambiguous at the best of times, think about how much gets lost in translation. Imagine hearing a tribesman in a remote land utter the word "gavagai" upon seeing a rabbit. A speaker of English could do what seems natural and translate this as "Lo, a rabbit." But other translations would be compatible with all the evidence she has: "Lo, food"; "Let's go hunting"; "There will be a storm tonight" (he may be superstitious).
By Brain in a Vat4.3
4646 ratings
Language is ambiguous at the best of times, think about how much gets lost in translation. Imagine hearing a tribesman in a remote land utter the word "gavagai" upon seeing a rabbit. A speaker of English could do what seems natural and translate this as "Lo, a rabbit." But other translations would be compatible with all the evidence she has: "Lo, food"; "Let's go hunting"; "There will be a storm tonight" (he may be superstitious).

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