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How effective is linguistic communication, really? (piefed.world)
submitted 16 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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Just-language, without any irl stuff, probably doesn't really achieve communication. Because the words don't carry their definition. And they definitely don't carry any real experience-stuff (sight, sound etc) either.

It's just assumed that you're connecting the word to the definition/experience, in your head, in a way that makes communication happen.

And that's a big assumption. It might be only 80% congruent. Or 50%. Or 5%. We could be a race of Chinese boxes for all we know.

IRL there is a verification to the process. If I order a pizza and I get a pizza then that's a pretty good sign that the communication is working.

But on the Internet, where it's just-language? Forget it. Howling solipsists all the way down.

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[–] 2 points 15 hours ago (1 child)

Linguistic communication is shown to be effective enough to coordinate action of individuals and groups of various size, not just repeat sounds to each other as a chattering of animals. This would indicate that the communication is more than just an echo chamber of call and response, even if the individuals don't use their words in perfect alignment.

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