Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site aecom.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!genrad!wjh12!talcott!harvard!seismo!cmcl2!philabs!aecom!werner From: werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) Newsgroups: net.nlang Subject: By any other name ... Message-ID: <1025@aecom.UUCP> Date: Sat, 15-Dec-84 14:30:11 EST Article-I.D.: aecom.1025 Posted: Sat Dec 15 14:30:11 1984 Date-Received: Tue, 18-Dec-84 02:18:51 EST Distribution: net Organization: Albert Einstein Coll. of Med., NY Lines: 23 <>Daneel said, "Why should a difference in a word make any difference to the thing described?" " 'That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.' Is that it, Daneel?" Daneel paused, then said, "I am not certain what is meant by the smell of a rose, but if a rose on Earth is the common flower that is called a rose on Aurora, and if by its 'smell' you mean a property that can be detected, sensed, or measured by human beings, then surely calling a rose by another sound- combination -- and holding all else equal -- would not affect the smell or any other of its intrinsic properties." Dialogue between Elijah Bailey and R. Daneel Olivaw Isaac Asimov _The Robots of Dawn_ [A demonstration of the problem of human metaphor.] -- Craig Werner !philabs!aecom!werner What do you expect? Watermelons are out of season!