Howard,
Nobody (least of all Peirce!) is naming bits "symbols" or "legisigns". Bits (as the name implies!) can only be small pieces of symbols in the semiotic sense of the word "symbol"; they are not symbols in the Peircean sense because a bit by itself, out of any context, will not and cannot be interpreted as a sign. Moreover, you can't make bits into symbols just by stringing them together. Bit strings can be used to replicate a symbol, such as a sentence or an email message or a book, but then it is the symbol that will determine the interpretant, not the bits or bit strings. It's true that communication can only take place by physical means - as Peirce puts it, signs can only exist in replica - but the material medium in itself can only be a sinsign, not a legisign, and not a symbol in the Peircean sense. And it won't even be a sinsign, won't be a sign at all, if it doesn't contribute its bit to the activation a semiotic system. gary f. From: Howard Pattee [mailto:hpat...@roadrunner.com] Sent: 5-Oct-14 12:11 PM To: biosemiot...@lists.ut.ee; biosemiot...@lists.ut.ee; 'Peirce List' Subject: [PEIRCE-L] Re: [biosemiotics:7097] Re: Natural Propositions, Chapter 3.6 At 08:50 AM 10/5/2014, Gary Fuhrman wrote: Howard, I think this is a good explanation of how the word "symbol" is used in the language of physics. As such, it explains why the language of physics is of limited use in semiotics. HP: Of course it is of limited use. It only explains why the most efficient and unambiguous communication is by simple coded sequences with bits that are not icons or indices or tokens with semantic content. GF: In discussing Natural Propositions, we are deploying Peirce's definition of "symbol" as "a sign which is fit to serve as such simply because it will be so interpreted" HP: Yes, like bit strings. These physical and information theory conditions do not depend on Peirce's theory of signs or naming bits "symbols" or "legisigns". You are free to ignore these laws, but no semiotic practice can avoid them. In any case, we cannot continue this efficient communication without bit sequences. Howard "In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice they are not." Einstein
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