Darmok and Jalad on the Internet-The Importance of Metaphors in Natural Language
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I wonder if this is damaging language or communication. A dog with coffee, its home in flames.
But it is a kind of communication in which the internet generations can all share. Homer and bart patting the couch, their faces shadowed. But this could be it: the way the internet and memers take over how we communicate! Ron paul, his arms wide, background flashing!
> ok
vs
>ok.
or even (gasp)
> ok...
all have massively different tone, but if it was my parent or grandparent reading them, they'd probably be interpreted relatively the same.
my partner are our friends all enjoy having entire conversations as well by only using meme gifs. it's amazingly effective, and funny as hell. I also like using several emoji to describe the changes when I'm approving a PR that doesn't need a comment. hieroglyphics are definitely making a comeback, personally I'm there for it.
Doing this the same way would be more akin to bringing up famous generals or Statesmen to describe your current situation. "Napoleon at Waterloo, his canons silent": I just engaged in a great struggle after many victories and have finally been defeated. "Bismark, his uniform bloodied": I'm trying to get consensus on a very difficult topic and some are so opposed that they would seek to gravely sabotage my efforts . "Washington on the water, his men ready": I'm doing something insanely risky but the cause is worth it. And so on.
Anyway, it's pretty easy to use the Darmok construction to communicate as long as there's a common understanding of the culture.
I'm sure their teenagers had a phrase ending with "...his eyes rolling!"
You're right, it's possible the depiction of the Tamarian language really is the same thing as the gifs we jab back and forth on the internet. Because why wouldn't it be, I suppose!
/single data point suggesting thou art excessively well-versed in military history.
With 8 billion Terrans, being fluent in Terran seems ambitious.
(FYI: If you are going to torture yourself this way, a fun place to start might be real world historical figures that likely inspired Mulan..)
To me, the point is using common cultural stories or referents - historical or fictional is not relevant.
Ron Paul is a real person, and he did raise his arms in a famous historical moment. I think he even said "It's happening". But just like Bismarck with a bloody uniform, the point is not the literal reality but rather what that moment signifies in our common cultural frame of reference.
From another angle: Bismark meant something very different in 1870 Prussia, 1918 USA, and 1937 Germany. In fact even with a historical figure or event, you are stuck referring to the contemporary cultural associations.
I think this is actually wgat we do when we drop gifs into conversation: we pull up a moment from Friends or Seinfeld that all participants are familiar with, to lend their emotional tenor to the conversation. And if you don't get the original reference, you very quickly pick up on the meaning. (I had no idea that it was Drake doing the clever idea meme, but I knew just what that reply meant!)
Bottom line, references to history, to memes, or gifs are fascinating ways to communicate based on shared culture and I enjoy using them.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
It can be very confusing when you first encounter them, because the meaning is often far from obvious:
井底之蛙 = "Frog at the bottom of a well" = A person with a limited perspective.
完璧歸趙 = "Return jade intact to Zhao" = Return something intact to its rightful owner.
樂不思蜀 = "Happy, forget Shu" = Being content due to trivial pleasures, and forgetting where you came from.
畫蛇添足 = "Draw feet on a snake" = To superfluously add to something, or to go overboard. It has a negative connotation that due to initial successes, you've become overconfident, and could end up failing.
Then there are some idioms that are delightfully evocative:
掩耳盗铃 = "Cover ears, steal bell" = You can deceive yourself, but not others. The metaphor is of someone who is trying to steal a bell. The bell makes sound when moved, so the thief covers their own ears, as if that would stop others from hearing the bell.
"Draw feet on a snake" is my new favorite tech metaphor. eg. Dropbox adding an excess of new features unrelated to its core offering, or the reimagined lipstick on every new version of Windows.
If you shared my viewpoint (I recognize some may not) would those uses make sense to a native Chinese speaker?
Some native English speakers wouldn’t understand this metaphor.
smilingcat.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanagra
To Greek trekkies [1], "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra" sounds doubly strange.
I'm guessing Zulu trekkies get a similar feeling with "Shaka, when the walls fell".
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[1] "Trekkie" is a reclaimed word.
TROI: Computer, search for the term Darmok in all linguistic databases for this sector.
COMPUTER: Searching. Darmok is the name of a seventh dynasty emperor on Kanda Four. A mytho-historical hunter on Shantil Three. A colony on Malindi Seven. A frozen dessert on Tazna Five. A
TROI: Stop search. Computer, how many entries are there for Darmok?
COMPUTER: Forty seven.
...
DATA: Freeze. Computer, search for the term Tanagra. All databases.
COMPUTER: Searching. Tanagra. The ruling family on Gallos Two. A ceremonial drink on Lerishi Four. An island-continent on Shantil Three
Darmok and Jalad is interesting as we don't know their history but by mapping language to our experience we gain insight and thus shared experience... Shaka, when the walls fell.
So, when we train a model on phrases like, "time is money", and it's able to discern both that time is not literally money, and that time expenditure can be equivalent to monetary expenditure. That ability to do translation between concepts is how language is able to perform "work" on information. Metaphorically, of course.