Wednesday, March 31, 2010

A potential problem for communication

Words, generally, are used to reference things or ideas -- no kidding, right?

Well, it gets a little more complicated.

Imagine a triangle: you, the word "ball," and an actual basketball.

The word "ball" has a real-world point of reference.

Now, let's say we could monitor the minds of three people, and we can know exactly what images and associations they "see" in their minds when a specific word is spoken.

So, I say the word "ball."

Person One sees a basketball -- it is round, circular, and it bounces.

Person Two sees a football -- it is not round, but it is an inflatable athletic item that bounces.

Person Three sees a grapefruit -- it is round, circular, but is not useful for athletics, at least not games that last very long.

In the above example, the same, common, every-day term -- "ball" -- unwittingly has become part of a communication breakdown.

So I am not attempting to define "ball," or to pick one definition over the other.

But the more controversial or sophisticated word used, the more difficult it is to communicate clearly.

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Dan Aykroyd promoting Crystal Head Vodka

There pics are too good to pass up, even if they are a couple of weeks old.

Dan Aykroyd Promotes Crystal Head Vodka


NEW YORK - MARCH 18: Actor Dan Aykroyd promotes his Crystal Head Vodka at Park Avenue Liquor Shop on March 18, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
Content © 2010 Getty Images All rights reserved.


Dan Aykroyd Promotes Crystal Head Vodka

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Updates!

Last weekend, I blogged and Tweeted from the 2nd annual Myrtle Beach Beer Fest; you can see the blog posts at Malty Hops.

I've been blogging daily at Liturgical. I try to post at least one quotation per day, usually from a collection I began compiling about 16 years ago.

Here's one book I've been quoting quite a bit lately:

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Saturday, March 27, 2010

All done!

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

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Here's a good Beer Fest crowd

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

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Ha ha ha

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

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T-shirt at the MB Beer Fest

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

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Friday, March 26, 2010

Myrtle Beach Beer Fest underway!

Read my preview here.

Get the details here.

I'll be tweeting live tomorrow: Twitter.com/cfburch4 .

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The best thing in the cabinet

Firefly Vodka

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Courtesy Ed Piotrowski: An advance forecast for Beer Fest

Ed Piotrowski, weather dude for WPDE, says we could have a few showers Friday with highs in the low 70s, but then it will be mostly sunny and near 60 on Saturday. 


Of course, we're still three days out, but that's fairly good news for the 2nd annual Myrtle Beach Beer Fest


Stay tuned for updates!


And check this out -- a new Jimi Hendrix album?!?!?

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Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Hard Cider for health and diet

Check this out:

Woodchuck Dark & Dry:  180 calories ... 16 grams of sugar ... 5 percent alcohol by volume

Hardcore Premium Cider:  180 calories ... 14 grams of sugar ... 5.5 percent alcohol by volume

Hornsby's Amber Draft:  170 calories ... 9 grams of sugar ... 6 percent alcohol by volume

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Poster for 2nd Annual Myrtle Beach Beer Fest

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Saturday, March 20, 2010

Who threw the half-empty 24-ounce bottle of Icehouse on my front lawn?!

And why the hell didn't you finish it?

It's not the worst beer ...

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Friday, March 19, 2010

Photo of the Day

Men's Snowboard Boardercross -FIS World Cup


LA MOLINA, SPAIN - MARCH 19: (FRANCE OUT) Pierre Vaultier (L) of France takes 1st place during the LG Snowboard FIS World Cup Men's Snowboardercross on March 19, 2010 in La Molina, Spain. (Photo by Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images)
Content © 2010 Getty Images All rights reserved.

.

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Thursday, March 18, 2010

What are you doing March 26 and 27?

I'll tell you what you're doing.

You're going to the 2nd annual Myrtle Beach Beer Fest.

I'm planning to Tweet.

. . .

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Saturday, March 13, 2010

A big day for beer in Myrtle Beach

If you're in the greater Myrtle Beach area today, you've got TWO Saint Patty's Day celebrations to choose from, and they're scheduled in such a way that you can go to both.

Get more information on both festivals here, and look for my Tweets to the right of this post.

Cheers!

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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

The Weather Channel's Stephanie Abrams

Isn't it cool when a nerd is totally hot?

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Life: A mystery or a problem?

Is the life of faith a mystery or a problem?

A few thoughts from Gabriel Marcel, a French playwright and philosopher, who lived 1889-1973:

“The problem is something that I could isolate. Problems have solutions or potential solutions…. The problem stands outside me. Mystery, I'm inside it. Mystery, I can't get distance on myself, or it or that other person."

“A genuine problem is subject to an appropriate technique…. whereas a mystery, by definition, transcends every conceivable technique. It is, no doubt, always possible (logically and psychologically) to degrade a mystery so as to turn it into a problem. But this is a fundamentally vicious proceeding, whose springs might perhaps be discovered in a kind of corruption of intelligence."

“Reality cannot be summed up.”

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