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Danny Ayers scripsit:
> [D]o other animals use references & pointers ?
Definitely. There isn't any doubt that lots of non-human animals can
learn to refer to things by purely symbolic means: not only apes and
other primates, but even a gray parrot and a sea lion have shown this
ability. What non-humans don't seem to have is syntax, or at least
productive syntax. Any human language has enough recursion to make it
possible to say anything: there are no "primitive" languages. (Some
languages lack the vocabulary to discuss certain things, but vocabulary
can be added freely without changing the language).
Here's a pointer to a fairly unbiased article, as such things go:
http://www.fonz.org/zoogoer/zg1995/primate_language.htm
I leave you all to contemplate the subject and its possible applications
for XML and the Web. I note that even the parrot, a literal birdbrain,
can make good judgements on what is "same" and what is "different",
a point perhaps applicable to the Great URI Debate.
--
John Cowan jcowan@reutershealth.com www.ccil.org/~cowan www.reutershealth.com
"The competent programmer is fully aware of the strictly limited size of his own
skull; therefore he approaches the programming task in full humility, and among
other things he avoids clever tricks like the plague." --Edsger Dijkstra
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