Language
Computing in general
- Computing with language
- The necessity of “names”
Notes:
This minimal physical activity is a boon to all computer users when it defeats the arcane, complex, and far-from-obvious protocols for getting around an operating system. The crucial error comes when that sensible and useful employment of an inputting device takes over for other functions, particularly those of language. It is not just in the learning of modern languages, but in all learning and training, that the “naming” of the object is the central learning act. God knew that when he set Adam and Eve about the business of naming the animals. In an emergency, one will not be given a true/false option, multiple choice, or point-and-click. It will not be enough to save someone's life to say that the whatchamacallit is falling on the thingamajig. One will have to know the name, not just recognize it but also produce it.