Re: SUO: Re: Re: Monosemy, Semantics, and Natural Language
Pat,
The only feature that is common to all signs is
that some life form (perhaps including robots)
interprets them.
Anything can be a sign. The Mars rovers have
found signs of water, for example.
PC> I have always made a distinction in my ontology
> between "evidence" (a phenomenon that suggests
> other phenomena or the presence of a certain object)
> and a "sign" which is a physical object or phenomenon
> created by an intelligent entity with the purpose
> of representing something other than itself.
Every kind of evidence is a sign, but that is
a special case. If you type the following words
to Google,
dictionary evidence
The first definition of evidence is "an outward sign".
There are other definitions, but they are all examples
of signs. Some are "natural signs", such as the evidence
for water on Mars, and others are legal means and other
conventional terms.
Following are the WordNet definitions, which you can get
from Google by typing "define:evidence". All of them
are signs of one kind or another.
John
_________________________________________________________
your basis for belief or disbelief; knowledge on which to base belief;
"the evidence that smoking causes lung cancer is very compelling"
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn
an indication that makes something evident; "his trembling was evidence
of his fear"
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn
(law) all the means by which any alleged matter of fact whose truth is
investigated at judicial trial is established or disproved
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn
provide evidence for; stand as proof of; show by one's behavior,
attitude, or external attributes; "His high fever attested to his
illness"; "The buildings in Rome manifest a high level of architectural
sophistication"; "This decision demonstrates his sense of fairness"
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn
provide evidence for; "The blood test showed that he was the father";
"Her behavior testified to her incompetence"
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn