Completeness and limitation of natural languages

This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.Expressibility, namely the condition that whatever can be thought can be said, is for strong reasons considered as an essential property of natural languages. To avoid circularity, thought cannot be identified here as what language expresses. The present paper argues that completeness of language with regard to thought is a natural consequence of the fact that the language faculty is essentially the capacity to acquire and use combinatorial systems of symbols. In contrast to iconic signs, symbolic systems do not depend on similarity between signal and meaning, but are based on convention. This symbolic nature of language provides access to any domain of human experience, since no situational connection or similarity between signal and denotatum is required; the combinatorial character allows for any degree of detail, as it provides for expressions of arbitrary complexity. The symbolic and combinatorial nature of human languages implies their discrete and abstract character, by which they are limited to the expression of discrete meanings. Mental structures that are bound to similarity with the signal they rely on are therefore outside the range of language. Percepts of faces and the meaning of music are briefly discussed as mental representations that cannot be verbalized. The symbolic nature of language sets the limits of expressibility, but it also allows for metalanguage and definitions, which in turn are means to overcome local constraints on expressibility. Finally, expressibility is to be distinguished from codability, i.e., the preference for optimal expression and its consequences, which shape conventions and use of symbols.Peer Reviewe

Towards a Cross-Disciplinary Sound Design Methodology: A Focus on Semiotics and Linguistics

Esta tese foca-se no mundo do design de som, centrando-se no desenvolvimento de uma metodologia que engloba várias disciplinas. Explora o papel do design de som na transmissão de mensagens, servindo de interface entre utilizadores e dispositivos. O estudo também investiga os paralelos entre a semiótica e a linguística e o design de som, interpretando como os sons podem atuar como sinais que representam outras entidades, com base em convenções sociais estabelecidas, e como podemos utilizar a linguística como modelo para criar sons não-falados que, tal como a linguagem, transmitem sistematicamente um significado ao utilizador. Através desta análise abrangente, o trabalho pretende contribuir para o campo, propondo uma metodologia interdisciplinar para o design de som, melhorando assim a experiência auditiva em diversos contextos.This thesis delves into the intricate world of sound design, focusing on the development of a methodology that encompasses various disciplines. It explores the role of sound design in conveying messages, serving as an interface between users and devices. The study also investigates the parallels between semiotics and linguistics and sound design, interpreting how sounds can act as signs that represent other entities, based on established social conventions and how we can use linguistics as a model to create non-speech sounds that just like language systematically convey meaning to the user. Through this comprehensive analysis, the work aims to contribute to the field by proposing a cross-disciplinary methodology for sound design, thereby enhancing the auditory experience in diverse contexts

Symbolic Computing with Incremental Mindmaps to Manage and Mine Data Streams - Some Applications

In our understanding, a mind-map is an adaptive engine that basically works incrementally on the fundament of existing transactional streams. Generally, mind-maps consist of symbolic cells that are connected with each other and that become either stronger or weaker depending on the transactional stream. Based on the underlying biologic principle, these symbolic cells and their connections as well may adaptively survive or die, forming different cell agglomerates of arbitrary size. In this work, we intend to prove mind-maps' eligibility following diverse application scenarios, for example being an underlying management system to represent normal and abnormal traffic behaviour in computer networks, supporting the detection of the user behaviour within search engines, or being a hidden communication layer for natural language interaction.Comment: 4 pages; 4 figure

Fractals in the Nervous System: conceptual Implications for Theoretical Neuroscience

This essay is presented with two principal objectives in mind: first, to document the prevalence of fractals at all levels of the nervous system, giving credence to the notion of their functional relevance; and second, to draw attention to the as yet still unresolved issues of the detailed relationships among power law scaling, self-similarity, and self-organized criticality. As regards criticality, I will document that it has become a pivotal reference point in Neurodynamics. Furthermore, I will emphasize the not yet fully appreciated significance of allometric control processes. For dynamic fractals, I will assemble reasons for attributing to them the capacity to adapt task execution to contextual changes across a range of scales. The final Section consists of general reflections on the implications of the reviewed data, and identifies what appear to be issues of fundamental importance for future research in the rapidly evolving topic of this review

Perception and Testimony as Data Providers

Assuming that the sceptical challenge might be either bypassed or answered, this still leaves unspecified how high-quality information about the external world is acquired. In this paper, I will argue that, if knowledge is accounted information, then when we apply this definition to the analysis of perceptual knowledge and knowledge by testimony (the only two sources of information about the external world), the result is that both qualify as data providers.Peer reviewe

The Psychology of Vehicle Performance: Implications for the Uptake of Electric Vehicles

Road transport accounts for around 16% of global CO2 emissions, and electric vehicles (EVs) represent a potential mitigation route. High performance might offset the disadvantages of higher cost and short range that make their uptake problematic. This research investigated how consumer drivers construe, perceive and value vehicle performance. Research with UK drivers, using the repertory grid method, found that drivers construe vehicle performance as having two independent dimensions, dynamic and cruising performance. A new inter-goal dynamics and feedback control model of driving behaviour was developed to account for differences in the opportunities afforded to perceive vehicle performance in naturalistic driving. This was embedded in a Bayesian model for perception of available vehicle performance. Driving simulation and test track experiments with UK drivers found that: driving behaviour was strongly affected by goal activation; drivers could perceive performance differences in naturalistic driving, but only if they were large; the lowest perceptual difference threshold, for mid-range available vehicle acceleration, was 7.7%; smaller differences could affect driving behaviour (overtaking) through a process of implicit learning. The symbolic value of products is conferred by their symbolic meanings. Two new methods were developed to quantify symbolic meanings, grounded in costly signalling theory, which represents them in terms of personality traits of a typical user. The symbolic meanings of car types, performance attributes and driving styles were all measured. In a randomised controlled trial, UK consumer drivers rated an EV better on dynamic and cruising performance than a conventional ICE control, but this benefit was insufficient to outweigh the disadvantages. The symbolic meaning of an EV was found to be consistent with cruising performance, but inconsistent with dynamic performance. Extended-range EVs would have the dynamic and cruising performance benefits of EVs without the range disadvantages, and may be a desirable option for many once costs reduce