Talk:Lincos (language)

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[edit] Mal

The page says Note the difference between "good" and "bad" and "true" and "false"; 10/4 is a true answer to the question, but it isn't what Ha wanted because Hb didn't reduce the fraction to its lowest terms. However, the reply on the wrong answer 1/4 was also "bad". The entire example doesn't include a single instance of "true" or "false", just "good" and "bad", so how is the reader supposed to note the difference? Abigail 10:44, Mar 24, 2004 (UTC)

It looks to me like that section isn't supposed to address the concept of "true" and "false", presumably those have been established earlier already. It's introducing the concept of "good" and "bad", and the article is pointing out to the reader that this isn't the same thing as true and false just in case the reader misinterprets and thinks that's what this section of Lincos is talking about. I don't really see the problem, I guess. Bryan 15:55, 24 Mar 2004 (UTC)

In that case, it's quite confusing. It points out that "bad" is used in response to the answer "10/4", because while the answer is correct, it's not what was wanted. This gives the impression "bad" means "correct, but not what was intended". However, the response to "1/4" (which is wrong) is also "bad". This gives the impression "bad" means "it's not what I intended, but it may, or may not be correct". Perhaps a definition of "bad" and "good" should be given. Abigail 16:57, Mar 24, 2004 (UTC)

I totally agree that it is very confusing.... So there's no seprate words for "bad" and "false" (both seem to be mal), and yet the passage asks us to distinguish them?!? What's the point? --Menchi 13:39, 21 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I just came into the discussion (obviously), but there are separate words for true/false vs. good/bad. True and false are Ver and Fal, respectively; good and bad, as pointed out in the text, are Ben and Mal. Xihr 19:27, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

Bad means not 'incorrect', it means 'i disaccept'.

However, yes, there is a lot to do on the language.

Could I have an example of Lincos that isn't text? I remember a more symbolic version appearing in a puzzle by Clifford Pickover in his Alien IQ Test. 151.203.178.253 17:24, 17 July 2006 (UTC) John1728

Yes, Alien IQ Test has a snapshot of some symbolic Lincos. Lincos is highly symbolic, to the point of not really even being representable in Unicode, so coming by a valid respresentation of its symbolic nature is hard to come by without scanned pictures which would have questionable copyright status. The samples typically transcripted on Web pages (and on Wikipedia) are deliberately chosen to be light on symbols, and as it is already eliminate some; for instance, in Lincos, grouping is not done with parentheses, but with a series of three horizontal dots at different levels to indicate spacing. Even this fundamental nature of Lincos is hard to show in Unicode/ASCII. Xihr 19:27, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Capitalization

Isn't it properly LINCOS? 75.18.210.218 17:03, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

No. It's all-capitalized LINCOS only on the cover. Everywhere inside -- and even on the list of books by the publisher on the back cover -- it is written first-letter-capitalized Lincos. The all-capitalized version is just typographical emphasis since it's the book title on the cover. Xihr 20:38, 28 February 2007 (UTC)