Author: Torben Mogensen (---.diku.dk)
Date: 07-22-2004 03:14
While I liked the article, I was a bit disappointed that it didn't mention what I think as the main difference between computer languages and natural languages: Computer languages are (or at least should be) well-defined and unambiguous, whereas natural languages are higly ambiguous and loosely defined. This is not necessarily a bad thing. A lot of poetry and humour relies on ambiguity, and the ambiguity also allows us to express ourself very concisely by having an implicit frame of reference.
This distinction is useful when considering RPG's: The rules of a game should, ideally, be unambiguous, whereas the setting description can be made ambiguous to spark imagination and wonder in the reader, as is done in poetry and humour.
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