Re: Defining "Language"

On Thu, 19 Jul 2007 21:39:45 +0200, Jörg Rhiemeier <joerg_rhiemeier@...>
wrote:

>On Thu, 19 Jul 2007 08:23:10 +0100, R A Brown wrote:
>
>> Would (2) include the dance by bees returning to the hive which
>> indicates where a good source of nectar-bearing plants may be found?
>
>I think not.  It doesn't convey the vast world of ideas and
>feelings.  Bees can't dance about the things humans talk about,
>they can only dance about the direction and distance in which
>a food source is found.  Also, bee dancing is an iconic system
>- the angle between the direction of the food source and the
>direction from which the sun shines is mirrored in the angle
>at which the bee dances, etc.
What types of ideas and concepts a "language" can convey is not clear. For
example, one often has difficulty communicating what type of pain or feeling
s/he has. (Are all "mixed feelings" alike?) Who knows, when we speak of
"dreams", are we actually talking about the same thing?