PirahN

[Salinas17 at aol.com]

 n a message dated 4/25/07 10:13:30 AM, Mike_Cahill at sil.org writes:
<<Isn't this conflating recursion and hierarchy?... The difference is that 
each atom of a molecule is on the same level as other atoms - we don't have 
atoms within atoms. Recursion is embedding - clause within clause, etc. Repetition 
is not recursion. >>

Well, there's another approach that adds some functional emphasis, rather 
than just observing this structural feature without direct concern with why it 
would be there.  Some "hierarchical" repetitive patterns serve the purpose of 
reducing uncertainty (e.g., Fibonacci).  Information theory would call such an 
element "redundancy" whether it is "recursive" or not.

I hope this kind of approach will be at your conference, Dan.

Steve Long





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