wbp@hou2d.UUCP (W.PINEAULT) (08/14/84)
"Saudi Arabia has virtually no crime rate," is what the commercial told me about 30 times before I realized what they are really saying. I understand what having virtually no crime is, and also a very low crime rate is within my grasp. But virtually no crime rate is a very odd construction. If a place has no crime rate then this means that the statistics are not gathered and that's O.K too. If the crime rate is virtually non-existent then it indeed exists, but is in a state of "almost non-being" which may mean that for all practical purposes it does not exist, but is known to a select few who will tell no-one. (Or may be a reflection of their different system of justice!) Are virtual rates calculated on virtual machines, and does one need either transcendental or imaginary numbers to express them? Seriously, what would a program do with such a sentence? And even more interesting, would a sophisticated program have any problem with it, and could it not even see a problem with it as I am sure millons of people did not see one! Submitted for your approval, Wayne Pineault (hou2d!wbp)
abh@ccivax.UUCP (Andrew X. Hudson) (08/15/84)
This kind of sentence structure is highly dependent upon perspective and context. If a problem is found on first parse perhaps a simple substitution by synonym would do the trick. In this case substituting 'nearly' for 'virtually' would do the trick. Contextually, though, the program would have to know that rates are for numerical comparison. In which case one of the better semantic results might be "nearly no crime rate in comparison." The reasons for which people interpret the same written words would be an interesting endeavor. Andrew Hudson -- "Freedom of choice is what you got Freedom from choice is what you want" - DEVO ...[rlgvax | decvax | ucbvax!allegra]!rochester!ritcv!ccivax!abh
jacob@hpfclo.UUCP (08/16/84)
Nf-From: hpfclo!jacob Aug 21 15:42:00 1984 I don't remember when and where it happened, but I do recall hearing about a Soviet official claiming: "We have no death rate!" Jacob Gore inhp4!hpfcla!jacob