One

meaning and communication

What you should get out of this

This is an experimental lecture It’s a superficial overview of semantics The goal is to

Motivate some of the programming and art theory that is to come

Get you to see meaning as being a very complicated (and interesting) phenomenon

I will not test you on it Although subsequent lectures will go over some of this

stuff in more detail, and then it will be fair game

A simple model

There are thoughts in the speaker’s head They are represented in language They are reproduced in the hearer’s head

“all lifeis suffering”

Form and content

Form is the concrete manifestation of the message (sound/object/pattern)

Content is the object referred to (denoted by) the message

“Buddha”

notation denotation(sort of)

A more detailed model

Speaker encodes meanings as messages Listener decodes messages to recover the meaning Encoding and decoding processes are perfect inverses

“Buddha”encode decode

Speaker Listener

Syntax and semantics

Forms have structure Sentences are made of phrases

Phrases are made of words Words are made of syllables

Syllables are made of phonemes Images are made of lines and forms

Lines and forms are made of points

The structure of the form is its syntax

Example: “I walked to the lake” can be read as Noun phrase: “I” Verb phrase: “walked to the lake”, which can be broken up as:

Verb: “walked” Prepositional phrase: “to the lake”, which could be broken up further if I weren’t running

out of room on this slide

Syntax and semantics

Meanings also have structure (This one’s way more subtle because philosophers can’t even

agree on whether meanings really exist) By many theories, meanings are “made of”

Objects being referred to in the world Properties being ascribed to them Relations being claimed to hold between them

Example: the meaning of “water is wet” can be decomposed into: An object: water A property ascribed to it: wetness

Syntax and semantics

And now the important part: The structure of form and content (roughly) mirror one another So the encoding/decoding process can be (roughly) described in

terms of the structures of form and content These rules for encoding/decoding are called the semantics of

the forms

Example: “water is wet” ascribes wetness to water More generally, sentences of the form “noun is adjective” are

decoded by Finding the meaning of the noun (an object) Finding the meaning of the adjective (a property) Ascribing the property to the object

Visual semantics

Visual decoding follows some basic rules of thumb: Closed contours

describe objects Occlusion signals

depth ordering

Generativity

Language is generative It has a relatively small set of words

(400-50,000 depending on language and speaker) It has a relatively small number of rules for combining

them Every sentence has a subject and a predicate Every predicate has a verb and arguments Etc.

These combine to create an infinite number of sentences

With an infinite number of possible meanings

A more accurate model

In practice, the decoding process does not produce an exact copy of the meaning in the listener’s head

In fact, it usually produces many meanings Many of which may be completely unintended or “wrong”

“all lifeis suffering”

Denotation and connotation

The denotation (aka referent, extension) of a term is the object(s) it refers to in the world

But extension is not a good model of meaning The following phrases have all been used in public discourse to refer to

the same person “Our commander and chief” “The president” “The stupid one”

(spoken by a French journalist when the election results were announced) In their use-contexts, they all have the same extension But they are not equivalent

The connotation (intension) of a term is, well …, the rest of its meaning

This is where math stops

In math and (almost all) formal logic, the meaning of expressions defined by their extension “5” and “4+1” are completely interchangeable No intension

Most Anglo-American philosophy also focuses on extensional semantics, rather than intention Extension can be defined rigorously

And systematized And theorized with good predictive power

Intension’s open-endedness makes it very hard to theorize

This is where computers stop

Computer science also uses extensional semantics because It grew out of math and logic Extensional semantics can be systematized

Also because You don’t want your word processor exercising poetic

license with your term paper We can’t (presently) make computers understand

connotation even when we try

Meaning in continental philosophy:Semiotics/semiology

Meaning is communicated through signification A sound or image refers to/suggests/signifies

a set of ideas or meanings

Signs as units of language Signifier

Material manifestation Image/sound/object

Signified Meaning/idea

“Weaker” theory than analytic philosophy (I.e. fewer predictions) But consequently a much broader domain of application Including connotation

Sign

Signifier

Signified

Barthes:Connotation as second-order signification

Connotation is communicated through association

As complete sign is used in a meta-sign to signify another idea

Myths Pervasive, “mythic” values and

beliefs used by a society to understand itself and the world

Idealized fictions (for him at least) Operate at the level of

connotation

Sign

Signifier

Signified

Signified

Sometimesa cigar isn’t a cigar

A more detailed model

Speaker encodes meanings as messages Listener decodes messages to recover the meaning Encoding and decoding processes are inverses

“Buddha”encode decode associationsinference

Speaker Listener

Connotation über alles

“Kerry”, that sounds French, doesn’t it?- Unnamed Whitehouse source, Fall 2002

In practice, denotation is often irrelevant Much political and ethical discourse operates almost

entirely at the level of connotation Most people don’t even know the lyrics to their

favorite songs

In case you didn’t believe me

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.See how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly.I'm crying.

Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come.Corporation tee-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday.Man, you been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long.I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.I am the walrus, goo goo goo joob

- Lennon and McCartney, I am the Walrus (UK, 1966)

The Psychedelic Furs,All of This and Nothing (UK, 1981)

a phonebook full of accidentsa girl to drive your cara suit to wear on mondaysand a coat a magazinea heavy rain, a holidaya painting of the walla knife a fork and memoriesa light to see it all

you didn't leave me anythingthat i can understandhey i never meant that stuffi want to turn you round

The PoliceWith Every Breath You Take (UK, 1983)

The PoliceWith Every Breath You Take (UK, 1983)

Every breath you take and every move you make

Every bond you break, every step you take

I'll be watchin' you

Every single day and every word you say

Every game you play, every night you stay

I'll be watchin' you

Signs have (partial) autonomy

People never completely work out their intended meaning before they speak

People use signifiers without fully understanding their consensual meanings

People interpret signifiers differently The consensual meanings of signifiers change

over time

Appropriation

Signs can also be appropriated by third parties and retasked for new meanings Quotation Warhol and Cornell’s

use of celebrity photographs

Sampling in Hip-hop Joseph Cornell, Untitled(Penny Arcade Portrait of Lauren Bacall) 1945-46

A3, Woke Up This Morning (UK, 1997)

Woke up this morningGot yourself a gun,Your mama always said you’d beThe Chosen One.

She said: You’re One in a millionYou’ve got to burn to shine,But you were born under a bad sign,With a blue moon in your eyes.

Woke up this morningAll that love had gone,Your Papa never told youAbout right and wrong.

But you’re looking good, baby,I believe that you’re a feeling fine, shame about it,Born under a bad signWith a blue moon in your eyes.

Bobby McFerrinDon’t Worry, Be Happy (USA, 1988)

Here's a little song I wroteYou might want to sing it note for noteDon't worry, be happyIn every life we have some troubleBut when you worry

you make it doubleDon't worry, be happyDon't worry, be happy now

Don't worry, be happy Don't worry,be happy

Don't worry, be happy Don't worry,be happy

Ain't got no place to lay your headSomebody came and took your bedDon't worry, be happyThe landlord say your rent is lateHe may have to litigateDon't worry, be happyDon't worry, be happy

Don't worry, be happy, Don't worry, be happy

Don't worry, be happy, Don't worry, be happy

More cultural appropriation

A less detailed model

All communication takes place in the context of culture Culture constantly shifts the meanings of its signifiers

As a result of ongoing discourse over the meanings of signifiers

“Buddha”

How to do things with words

We don’t just communicate to exchange information J.L. Austin, How to do things with words, 1960

Communication is a form of action Requesting assistance Ordering subordinates Promising future action Persuading others to thought or action

Seeing an object or concept in a new light Seeing connections not previously seen … without ever actually stating the new thought

Communication as action

The speaker seeks to change the listener’s mind The speaker chooses words to effect that change The listener is changed

“this mind isnot Buddha”

Patti Smith: Dancing Barefoot

she is benedictionshe is addicted to theeshe is the root connection she is connecting with he

here I go and I don't know why I fell so ceaselessly could it be he's taking over me...

I'm dancing barefoot heading for a spin some strange music draws me in makes me come on like some heroin/e

she is sublimation she is the essence of thee she is concentrating on he, who is chosen by she

here I go and I don't know why I spin so ceaselessly,could it be he's taking over me…

I'm dancing barefoot heading for a spin some strange music draws me in makes me come on like some heroin/e

Communication as social action

Neil Young - Ohio

Tin soldiers and nixon coming,We’re finally on our own.This summer I hear the drumming,Four dead in ohio.

Gotta get down to itSoldiers are gunning us downShould have been done long ago.What if you knew herAnd found her dead on the groundHow can you run when you know?

Art and communication

Art is communication Your goal is to learn to

Understand the role of signs in our culture The dominant sign systems that organize our thinking The “ecology” of signs

Learn to do good encoding Understand the decoding process Become a good listener to your own decoding process

Computers and communication

Programming is also communication From programmer to computer From programmer to programmer

Your goal is to learn to understand The syntax of programs

Recognize gibberish The semantics of programs

Given a desired computation, understand how to formulate a program to do it

Given a program, understand how to determine what it’s doing