Smile vs. Poop
The article discusses the complexities of translation and communication across different languages and experiences. It highlights the challenges of conveying meaning, especially in transformative contexts like enlightenment or vampirism, where true understanding is elusive. The author uses a personal anecdote about a child's response to the command 'smile' to illustrate the nuances of intention and outcome in communication.
- ▪Translation can often fail due to the lack of a 1-to-1 mapping between words in different languages.
- ▪The author argues that meaningful consent to transformative experiences cannot be achieved without firsthand understanding.
- ▪A child's attempt to smile on command illustrates the need for translation in communication, where intention must be understood to achieve the desired outcome.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
"Smile" vs. "Poop!" Or, On The Art of Auto-TranslationGuyMay 18, 20251592413ShareSomething I care a lot about is translation.If I want to convey something to you, and all I have are words, and you speak a different language, how can I do it? I can attempt to match my words to your words, but the way our different languages’ words carve up the world might not even have a 1-to-1 mapping! This means there might be tons of overflow: maybe one word in my language is two in yours, or is only “kinda” like this other word in yours, or maybe it’s “untranslatable” and there’s no words for it, or maybe it’s only half of a word in yours: can’t use it to say what I mean without also smuggling in something I don’t.I think of language-as-translation as tightening the screws on a board.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Hacker News (Newest).
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