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That is such an interesting and...low-level way to think of it. To me it feels a little deeper than just there being a "maze of rules". Your earlier mention of

That is such an interesting and...low-level way to think of it. To me it feels a little deeper than just there being a "maze of rules". Your earlier mention of "everything's connected to everything else" resonated with me more. In a sense, the expressive power of programming languages, and mathematical notation, feels very small. I liked the board game metaphor brought up in the top comment: programming languages and mathematical notation merely feel like arrangements of board game pieces (from an infinite box, and the rules of how they can be arranged are "context-free"). They don't have meaning except what we impose (ideally, assisted by comments). A metaphor I brought up in another comment is that it feels "easy" to systematically translate an arbitrary program into an equivalent diagram, such that the diagram would contain 100% of the operational information in the program, and could be runnable as-is. (Would be cumbersome to input into the computer, ofc.) Whereas the idea of systematically translating an arbitrary natural sentence into a diagram just seems...nonsensical to me. I wouldn't even know where to begin. Does that resonate with you?

whynaut 6y ago
> Whereas the idea of systematically translating an arbitrary natural sentence into a diagram just seems...nonsensical to me. I wouldn't even know where to begin. we actually literally did this in high school. It was very informative for me.
bobyfyfy 6y ago
Have you studied syntax? They diagram sentences all the time
bzbarsky 6y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_diagram#Reed%E2%80%93Kellogg_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_diagram#Reed%E2%80%93... is totally a thing I recall with moderate fondness from high school. Yes, if you try to apply it to some parts of "Moby Dick" it will be rather painful. :)
motakraxxer 6y ago
This is really an interesting thought. Would it surprise you if I said that for me, it works in an opposite manner? I first think in terms of diagrams and the construct sentences for it, whether it be programming language, natural language or math.

whynaut 6y ago

> Whereas the idea of systematically translating an arbitrary natural sentence into a diagram just seems...nonsensical to me. I wouldn't even know where to begin. we actually literally did this in high school. It was very informative for me.

bobyfyfy 6y ago

Have you studied syntax? They diagram sentences all the time

bzbarsky 6y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_diagram#Reed%E2%80%93Kellogg_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_diagram#Reed%E2%80%93... is totally a thing I recall with moderate fondness from high school. Yes, if you try to apply it to some parts of "Moby Dick" it will be rather painful. :)

motakraxxer 6y ago

This is really an interesting thought. Would it surprise you if I said that for me, it works in an opposite manner? I first think in terms of diagrams and the construct sentences for it, whether it be programming language, natural language or math.