Re: brief survey

Trent Pehrson wrote:
> Most excellent list members,
>
> I make a humble request for the sole purpose of satiating my own
> curiosity.  Please respond to the following, brief survey:
>
> 1) Do you consider yourself a linguist?
no (I took linguistics classes, and I've read a lot about the subject,
but linguistics is only one of my main interests, and much of what I've
learned is for artistic purposes in creating better conlangs, the way
that artists study anatomy....)

> 2) Given only the following labels, which best describes linguistics
> as a discipline for you? (a) a scientific discipline  (b)  a philosophical
> discipline.
a

> 3) Given only the following definitions, which comes closest to
> describing the purpose of linguistics for you?  (a) learning to speak many
> languages.  (b) learning the structures of languages.  (c) learning how
> language works in the human mind.  (d) defining and cataloging languages.
> (e) defining language at large. (e) the humanistic study of language and
> literature.
b (although really that's only one branch of linguistics; (d) would need
to be included to be more accurate, and the first of the two (e)'s is
relevant as well, but (c) seems more like a branch of psychology that
overlaps with linguistics to some extent).

> 4) Do you consider yourself a scientist?
no (I generally understand what science is about, and I enjoy reading
about it, but that sort of thing isn't what I do most of the time.)

> 5) Given only the following definitions, which comes closest to
> describing the purpose of science for you?  (a) the search for truth. (b)
> use of the scientific method to create theories by proving or disproving
> hypotheses (c) the process of discovering natural laws.
b (well, that doesn't really describe the *purpose* of science, but
natural laws aren't the only things discovered by science, so I think
(b) is still a better answer; well, still not a very good one, but
better than the other two; science may be a big part of the search for
truth, but philosophy has a role to play as well....)

> 6) Do you consider yourself a philosopher?
no (well, in a sense everyone is a philosopher, but I don't think of
myself as a very good one...)

> 7) Given only the following definitions, which comes closest to
> describing the purpose of philosophy for you?  (a) the search for truth.
> (b) the pursuit of wisdom by intellectual means and moral self-discipline.
> (c) the study of the nature of reality based on logical reasoning rather
> than empirical methods. (d) a critical analysis of fundamental assumptions
> or beliefs. (e) a discipline comprising logic, ethics, aesthetics,
> metaphysics, and epistemology.
d (if you're looking for a definition, (e) is a good one, but again it
doesn't describe the *purpose* of philosophy; (d) is one of the
potential purposes that's most of interest to me.)