[MD] Patterns

[MarshaV]

Hmmm.  We must be cautious of a time-scale chauvinism.


At 05:02 PM 2/17/2008, you wrote:
>David M. writes:
>
>"Surely a rock recurs, just by going on being
>a rock, it repeats its rockness over time, a
>diachronic
>rather than synchronic pattern/repeat. "
>
>Hardly. Recurs in its sense:: "to happen, come up or
>show up repeatedly".
>  is quite clear. If I show up repeatedly at a bar it
>means that I am not at the bar in between the
>occasions  that "I show up". Diachronic is supposed to
>mean "change" over time, not constancy over time as in
>the case of a rock that is always there. A classic
>example of diachrony is the function (+_ sq. y) which
>gives a zigzag line, (once it is over 0 and next it is
>under 0). A continuous straight line is not considered
>a pattern, neither the light emitted by a (stable)
>electric bulb, etc. The same holds by a rock 'being
>there' always, all the time.
>
>      A repeated 'rockness' or a repeated 'loneliness
>or a repeated 'smoothness' , if English doesn't fail
>me, implies a feature that appears, shows up, again
>and again. Not that it's always present. (From Latin
>"re-" again)  Which brings to my mind what the fellow
>said when flattering his old auntie --- But auntie,
>your skin is remarkably smooth  between your
>wrinkles!—
>
>        If I were to draw this:  _________________
>I wouldn't be representing a pattern. Whereas if I
>drew this: .........................
>it would be a pattern where the dot recurs, reappears
>at regular intervals.  Those two examples lead to an
>interesting question; suppose we went on decreasing
>the gaps between the dots, at which point would a
>pattern become a non-pattern?
>  Is the buzzing of a fly a sound pattern or a steady
>signal? How could we tell?
>
>
>
>
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