Re: A Normalization Question

Neo wrote:

> Then why does a child generally answer yes to the question
> "Is brown composed of b, r, o, w, n in that order?" after being shown 'brown'?

Because it's a leading question which does not represent the issue. The same child would probably also answer yes to "Is that house brown?" (given a brown house), or "Is your last name 'Brown?'" (if that's his/her last name), or any of an infinite number of other possible facts which contain "brown."

The test of whether "brown" identifies (or -is-) the fact is not to spoon-feed the child the (obviously true) answer you're looking for and asking a yes/no question about whether it is indeed true, and you're either being disingenuous or silly for stating that it is. Rather, the test would be to show the child "brown" and ask WHICH of an infinite number of possible facts that "brown" asserts is the fact being asserted.

Larry Coon
University of California Received on Mon Jul 19 2004 - 19:51:40 CEST