[CAUT] Semantics

[Fred Sturm]

On May 9, 2009, at 11:02 AM, Jeff Tanner wrote:

> I rather think it is the physicists here who are being obtuse and  
> unwilling to accept that the word amplify is understood by non- 
> physicists to mean something slightly different that what it means  
> to a physicist.  We're bickering over a semantics issue when  
> everybody on the list knew what I meant.  Let's move on and accept  
> that what I meant was that the "volume of noise was made larger and  
> more powerful" rather than trying to make others feel stupid and  
> ignorant in front of the congregation.

Hi Jeff,
	There is no need to take something like this personally, as some  
conspiracy to make someone feel stupid. I don't think there has been  
any intent in that direction. The point of this exercise in talking  
about the meaning of a word is to make it possible to communicate. If  
we don't use words in a careful way, we miscommunicate, we talk at  
cross purposes.
	This is basic stuff. Yes, granted, there is a common misconception  
that a soundboard is an "amplifier." But it isn't. It is something  
that turns vibrational energy into "sound" by moving air. I suggest  
you contemplate what Del wrote: The soundboard doesn't make the sound  
of the string louder, it makes the sound. The vibrating string coupled  
to the soundboard makes the sound.
	If we want to get at what is actually happening in a piano, we need  
to understand these very basic facts, whether or not the general  
public at large understands them. If we want to try to figure out why  
some sound is produced under certain circumstances, we need to base  
our discussion on physical realities, and we need to use terminology  
correctly and consistently, or we won't get anywhere, other maybe  
yelling at one another and making sarcastic remarks and other rather  
stupid wastes of everybody's time.
	I think we all understand "what you meant." I don't think physicists  
are being obtuse, nor that we are talking about a "slightly different"  
meaning. If we want to be professionals, we need to go to the time and  
effort to learn enough physics to understand the processes.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu