MRC_Hans
Penultimate Amazing
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2002
- Messages
- 24,961
Franko said:But Han-Job, you told me specifically that the Mandelbrot set was a closed system, and that the image of the Mandelbrot set was not art because it was determined by the algorithm that generated it.
Right. Wheee, you actually understood.
I would assume that be the same token the English language is also a fractal, because the English language is determined by the 26 letter character set, and the rules (algorithm) of English grammar and spelling. Ergo in the same way that the Mandelbrot image is not an artwork because it is determined, no written word can be considered "Art" because everything written with the English language is determined by the Laws of English.
If not, then explain the contradiction?
As you have demonstrated repeatedly yourself, semantics is not a precise science. Basically, of course, given some maximum length, there is a finite (although astronomical) number of different texts that could be written in English before all meaningful letter combinations were exhausted. But the semantics would still not be anyway nearly totally defined. Let's just take one pertinent example:
You say: You obey the laws of physics.
I say: You obey the laws of physics.
Now, to the uninformed observer, it would seem that we are saying the same thing, but in reality, with the possible exception of "of", there isn't a single word in the two sentences we agree on the meaning of.
Therefore, language is not deterministic.
I kept asking you to precisely define the term "Art", but you A-Theists Hate to actually pin yourselves down by defining a term.
And I kept answering that "art" is not definable. Actually, the lack of definability (if such a word exists) is one of the main characteristics of art.
Hans