Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!ucsd!nosc!humu!uhccux!lee
From: lee@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu (Greg Lee)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Denotational confusion
Message-ID: <3388@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu>
Date: 5 Mar 89 23:43:20 GMT
References: <4415@pt.cs.cmu.edu>
Organization: University of Hawaii
Lines: 16

From article <4415@pt.cs.cmu.edu>, by kck@g.gp.cs.cmu.edu (Karl Kluge):
" > From: roelw@cs.vu.nl 
" > 
" > How then could a universal TM (i.e. a computer) fed with a program which can
" > answer questions in Chinese ever come to "know" the denotation of the
" > symbols it is manipulating? The outcome of its computation is invariant
" > under changes of denotation of the symbols it manipulates; ...
" ...
" As to the assertion that the outcome is invarient under changes in symbol
" denotation -- this is true only for trivial meanings of the word "outcome".

I agree, but couldn't we reach the conclusion more immediately by
considering the outcome to be given in terms of the denotations of any
symbols it contains.  Then it is not, in general, invariant.

		Greg, lee@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu