Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/10/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> As far as the Dead Sea Scrolls (DDS) are concerned, I > suppose the symbols of the scrolls could be transtated > into a number system, but I don't see how the *meaning* > of the symbols can be precisely converted into a number. Meanings are never converted into anything in a digital system; they are recreated based on the symbols used in the system. Thus, the word "tree" is not meaning in itself; it is a symbol for meaning. The actual meaning is up to the reader and writer, not the word. This is one reason why digital systems make lossless, error-free communication possible--they don't try to transmit meaning, they only transmit mutually-agreed-upon pointers to meaning. > I don't think it is possible to come up with a rule system > similar to that with an AVI movie. Ever studied cryptography? > I suspect that biblical scholars are far from agreeing > at to the meanings of the symbols. They don't have to. -- Anthony