Definition of "telecommunications"

[John julian]

Bernard Robertson-Dunn wrote:
>
>Stewart, you surprise me.
>
>If I ask a friend to pass on a message to my sister the next time she sees
>her in Manchester, is that not communicating over distance? Is that
>telecommunications, in the sense meant?
>
>There will always be problems with definitions as long as they involve
>words. Everything is relative and circular. That doesn't mean we cannot
>agree on something, as long as it is not cast in stone and made absolute. A
>shared understanding is more important than the words used.
>


It's a hoary old problem in concept learning.

I think it was the Polish philosopher Tadeusz Kotarbinski who said:

"You don't have to be able to define a sparrow to recognise one."







John Julian          ph +61 3 99055143
Management Information Systems Coordinator
Monash University
Office of the Deputy General Manager
Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
John.Julian@adm.monash.edu.au
or: jjulian@silas.cc.monash.edu.au