improvius
Posts: 807
Joined: Jan. 2006
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| Quote (ericmurphy @ Dec. 19 2006,15:26) | | Quote (improvius @ Dec. 19 2006,14:06) | | Quote (ericmurphy @ Dec. 19 2006,14:50) | | Is a measure of vacuity a quantitative measure, or a qualitative measure? |
I suspect you were being facetious, but I'll offer an answer that might help Dave out. It's qualitative. Either something is empty or it isn't. If you compare 2 of Dave's posts and try to say that one is more vacuous than the other, you are saying that the "less vacuous" one actually has more content. And if it has any content at all, it isn't vacuous. |
Well, perhaps not. After all, one can say that one gas tank is "more empty" than another, can't one? If one tank is half empty, and the other is only a quarter empty, isn't the first one "emptier" than the second?
But yes, I was being facetious.
And I agree that it's not clear that any of Dave's posts are anything other than completely empty. |
As an English major, I'd say that "empty" is an absolute quality, and that "half empty" and "emptier" are technically incorrect uses of the language, and could perhaps be best classified as colloquialisms. You're actually measuring content or space - not the quality of "emptiness" itself.
"Unique" is another such quality. It means that there is only one of something. So terms such as "very unique" are incorrect. This particular example is one of my pet peeves. I cringe whenever I hear it.
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| Quote (afdave @ Oct. 02 2006,18:37) | Many Jews were in comfortable oblivion about Hitler ... until it was too late.
Many scientists will persist in comfortable oblivion about their Creator ... until it is too late. |
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