Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!datapg!sewilco From: sewilco@datapg.MN.ORG (Scot E Wilcoxon) Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng Subject: Re: What to know & universal icons Message-ID: <22310@datapg.MN.ORG> Date: 22 Sep 89 22:17:39 GMT References: <768@cogsci.ucsd.EDU> <3490@rtech.rtech.com> <1316@blackbird.afit.af.mil> <56868@aerospace.AERO.ORG> <1989Sep3.055622.28387@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca> <2087@softway.oz> <10742@dasys1.UUCP> Reply-To: sewilco@datapg.MN.ORG (Scot E Wilcoxon) Followup-To: comp.cog-eng Distribution: na Organization: Data Progress, Minneapolis, MN Lines: 21 In article <10742@dasys1.UUCP> rpb@dasys1.UUCP (Robert Brady) writes: > Isn't Chinese made up of 100 and some odd building blocks? >The interactions between these would be in some sort of system. I thought of this a few years ago and spent a few minutes with a Chinese-to-English dictionary. The symbol for "computer" contained the symbol for "abacus", which contained the symbol for "bamboo". (I don't remember what symbols "bamboo" contained) It makes sense because bamboo is a common material used to make an abacus. But the purpose is not related to the material. And the relationship between an abacus and a computer is in the purpose. The relationships are not in a pattern which can be programmed to create the symbols from the roots. (reports of computers which contain bamboo will be enjoyed but otherwise ignored :-) -- Scot E. Wilcoxon sewilco@DataPg.MN.ORG {amdahl|hpda}!bungia!datapg!sewilco Data Progress UNIX masts & rigging +1 612-825-2607 uunet!datapg!sewilco I'm just reversing entropy while waiting for the Big Crunch.