I’m just reading Quine’s Word and Object. We may begin by defining the affirmative stimulus meaning of a sententence… as the class of all the stimulations (hence evolving ocular irradiation patterns between properly timed blindfoldings) that would prompt his consent
. Yes, it made me go WTF too. Basic beliefs aren’t just there for the sake of it - they exist to keep us from going insane. Imagine if I were to wake up and get to the train station to hear an announcement: Please use your ocular irradiation pattern-detecting equipment to gather visual stimuli from the timetable, and then use your auditory sensual devices to monitor for announcements over the tannoy
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IBM have patented an important new algorithm. It is this: x = y / z where x is the amount to be paid by a restaurant customer, y is the bill’s total amount and z is the number of fellows at one’s table. Truly revolutionary. (Via Techdirt)
