"Umwelt" is fine - I don't know its precise meaning in German. English
tends to be less precise, but I think the definition of "context" has
already been expanded enough to cover this. Webster (1974) includes an
environmental definition for context as: "2: the interrelated conditions in
which something exists or occurs."
At 12:34 PM 6/3/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Reply to John:
>
>>This "Umwelt" seems very close to the more colloquial idea I described in
>>an earlier message as "context." In other words, for sensory data to have
>>meaning it must be referenced to some environmental context (or Umwelt)
>>which must exist within the mind, because the mind is the only place where
>>the comparison can take place.
>
>Good comment!
>
>>I am actually quite surprised to read from Ricardo's comments
>>that AI programmers have not incorporated this need for context or "Umwelt."
>
>My previous comment on modeling a virtual human environment was
>about modeling human Umwelt. But the term "context" does not seem
>good. According to the dictionary, context = the parts just before and
>after the word that determine its meaning. Umwelt is not a text.
>Of course we can expand the meaning of the word "context", but it
>may be easier to use another word (e.g., Umwelt).
>
>-Alexei
>-------------------------------------------------
>Alexei Sharov Research Scientist
>Dept. of Entomology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061
>Tel. (540) 231-7316; FAX (540) 231-9131; e-mail sharov@vt.edu
>Home page: http://www.gypsymoth.ento.vt.edu/~sharov/alexei.html
>
>
-----------------------------------------------
John J. Kineman, Physical Scientist/Ecologist
National Geophysical Data Center
325 Broadway E/GC1 (3100 Marine St. Rm: A-152)
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(303) 497-6900 (phone)
(303) 497-6513 (fax)
jjk@ngdc.noaa.gov (email)
(303) 497-6513 (fax)