Flash Gordon said:
There are now algorithmic ways of doing certain forms of analysis on
text. There are definitely ways of analysing and proving things about
code. Put these two fields of science together and you can get a
computer (not a person) to analyse the C standard for unambiguous
statements, such as the minimum value of INT_MAX, and then have the
program analyse a C implementation to see if it meets those
requirements. Obviously with current technology it cannot test all
aspects, but it is certainly possible to test some. Therefor it IS
possible to use an instrument (specifically a computer) to test for
some of these things.
Certainly it's possible to analyze text algorithmically and
process it in possibly useful ways. But that isn't the same as
what the text "means", unless you're using a very different
notion of meaning than most people. Also, note that just because
there is an algorithm that processes linguistic text doesn't mean
there is anything absolute about its results or conclusions.
It's perfectly possible to write an algorithm that would
transform the ISO C standard into "Romeo and Juliet", but that
doesn't mean the C standard was written by Shakespeare (or
that "Romeo and Juliet" was written by the ISO committee).
You need to study physics more, there is a lot of stuff which is
dependent on the observer but can still be measured.
I can pretty much hold my own in physics with anyone
who doesn't have a degree in the subject. But if you
have some insights that you think I would benefit from,
please feel free to send them to me in email.
Also, I have yet to come across any instrument which provided readins
which did not need interpreting.
It's easy to devise an instrument, for example for the
ball-dropping experiment, that turns a light ON if they
hit within one millisecond of each other, and stays off
otherwise.
Some things not being objectively verifiable does not mean that nothing is.
Okay, but that's nothing like anything I've said.
Yet you *are* arguing about what what is or is not objective.
I'm not. I'm only stating my opinion and trying to explain the
meaning of some previous statements. If after understanding my
statements someone still wants to hold a different opinion,
that's up to them, but there isn't any point in saying "I
disagree" without first understanding what the other person is
saying.
Now perform the experiment and measure the results *without* affecting
the behaviour. Current theory states this is impossible. Therefor it
is not possible to verify your claim. Therefor, as it cannot be
verified, your claim as to the behaviour of those balls is not
objective.
Depends on what measurement it is you're trying to do. For some
experiments, the error bars of the approximation being tested are
much larger than the fluctuations due to quantum mechanical
effects; measurements in such cases can be made quite reliably.
The ball-dropping experiment is one of these.
Easy. What is the minimum allowable value of INT_MAX. I'm pretty sure
that with current methods it would be possible to write a program to
analyse the text and determine the answer to this question. It would
not be easy, but it would be possible.
It would be possible to write a program to analyze the text and
determine /an/ answer to this question. It also would be possible
to write a different program to analyze the text and determine
a different answer. Neither program has any inherent claim
to producing /the/ answer.
In theory it would actually be possible to develop a system which had
every meaning of every word in the standard (and all referenced
standards) and prove a lot more than this.
Only if you take "meaning" to mean what the system says it means,
rather than what people who read the standard think it means. I'm
not interested in what the program says, because it could say
whatever the person who wrote the program wanted it to say. I'm
interested in what meaning is understood by the people who read
the standard.