Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!lll-winken!uunet!mitel!sce!cognos!rayt
From: rayt@cognos.UUCP (R.)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Question on Chinese Room Argument
Keywords: Nil, Zero, Null Set
Message-ID: <5853@cognos.UUCP>
Date: 13 Apr 89 21:44:04 GMT
References: <10992@bcsaic.UUCP> <16873@cup.portal.com> <49015@linus.UUCP>
Reply-To: rayt@cognos.UUCP (R.)
Organization: Cognos Inc., Ottawa, Canada
Lines: 21

In article <49015@linus.UUCP> Barry Kort writes:

>In article <16873@cup.portal.com> Daniel B Hankins writes:
 
> > A symbol that means nothing is no symbol at all.
 
>How about the mathematical symbols for zero and the null set?
>How about the ASCII symbols for SPACE and NULL?

I consider zero magnitude and a set with no elements to have meaning: both
indicating the absence of a particular class of objects or properties. The
latter two are interesting because they are the background from which the
foreground gains its meaning, hence are meaningful as boundaries. Clearly,
though, they can be given special meanings outside of this function.

							R.
-- 
Ray Tigg                          |  Cognos Incorporated
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