As Alfred Korzybski said, "the map is not the territory".
Just because you can name something doesn't mean the thing could exist. It certainly doesn't mean it should exist.
All of the paradoxes we encounter can be traced back to failures of language to stick to what actually pertains.
There is a huge practical impact of this: being able to describe something, even a lucid and convincing description, doesn't mean we can make that thing exist. Inventors often find that when they try to take what is a very clear idea in theory and put it into practice, there is often some "simple" detail to overcome which never gets resolved.
Edison, who isn't my favorite person to quote, is reported to have said very cogent about this: "genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration". I would just change "genius" to "engineering".
Just because you can name something doesn't mean the thing could exist. It certainly doesn't mean it should exist.
All of the paradoxes we encounter can be traced back to failures of language to stick to what actually pertains.
There is a huge practical impact of this: being able to describe something, even a lucid and convincing description, doesn't mean we can make that thing exist. Inventors often find that when they try to take what is a very clear idea in theory and put it into practice, there is often some "simple" detail to overcome which never gets resolved.
Edison, who isn't my favorite person to quote, is reported to have said very cogent about this: "genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration". I would just change "genius" to "engineering".
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