Re: The word "symbol"

"mAsterdam" <mAsterdam_at_vrijdag.org> wrote in message news:42fd4694$0$11066$e4fe514c_at_news.xs4all.nl...
> vc wrote:
>> David Cressey wrote:
>>>VC wrote:
> [snip]
>> When we confine ourselves to the realm of formal structures of which
>> database theory is an example, ...
>
> Ah! This creates perspective. I do not share this opinion.
> To me there is a part of database theory that deals with formal
> structures.

What's that supposed to mean ?

>
> [snip]
>
>> Semiotics has quite a few non-intersecting branches depending on the
>> semiotician you talk to ;). Some claim it studies the interaction
>> between the "signifier" (name) and the "signified" (entity) and that
>> the "signified" can be influenced by the "signifier". Others say that
>> "signs" (or "symbols" where "symbol" is a synonym of "sign") as
>> "signifiers" have meanings of their own unrelated, or weakly related,
>> to that of the "signified". One of the more interesting semioticians
>> is the writer Umberto Eco who used some semiotics ideas in his books
>> (e.g., Foucault's Pendulum). However, I do not see how this stuff
>> can be applicable to study of formal systems, like the RM.
>
> Semiotics is not applied to the study of formal systems
> per se but it does give handles to provide content,
> context, meaning and use of formal systems.

For example ? Received on Sat Aug 13 2005 - 03:07:53 CEST