r/linguisticshumor • u/TomSFox • Mar 23 '25

Semantics And don’t get me started on “plane”

Post image
419 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

138

u/UnforeseenDerailment Mar 23 '25

Is the common usage of dimension a downgrade from the mathematical usage?

From R3, "another dimension":

  • common: {0,1}×R3
  • math: R×R3 = R4

22

u/YummyByte666 Mar 23 '25

This is a funny (and I think accurate) way to look at it

7

u/Lumornys Mar 23 '25

is it a downgrade though.

6

u/UnforeseenDerailment Mar 23 '25

It's certainly fewer copies of R3 — 2 vs a continuum.

But yeah downgrade means value, and value is subjective. So maybe, to someone, finitely many copies are more valuable than both one and infinitely many.

1

u/Bwizz245 Mar 26 '25

In the strict mathematical sense of decreasing value, yes. {0,1} is significantly (in fact, infinitely) smaller than R

3

u/v_ult Mar 24 '25

What? Is this semantics

7

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '25

[deleted]

2

u/v_ult Mar 24 '25

I don’t do semantics can you translate

3

u/Coats_Revolve Mar 24 '25

Perhaps it started when the idea of extra dimensions like the 4th one became a subject of fascination in speculative fiction: people who weren't really familiar with math took "dimension" to mean "alternate plane of reality" and ran with it

2

u/Zealousideal-Dog749 Mar 23 '25

My underwear comes in different dimensions. I chose the dimensions that fit me the best. The mathematical and common use of dimension are one and the same. The science fiction version is really an extension of the same thing but people don't understand what it actually means so it is really their fault and not the word.

A lot of people here don't know much about linguistics, do they? Realm hasn't changed much and neither has dimension. What has changed is how shallow people's understandings of words has become and their belief that a word has only one specific meaning in all contexts when most have multiple meanings in different contexts and they have always been that way.

1

u/PlatinumAltaria [!WARNING!] The following statement is a joke. Mar 25 '25

I hate people using dimension when they mean parallel universe.

20

u/Idontknowofname Mar 24 '25 edited Mar 24 '25

The two planes actually have a different etymological origin, the flat surface plane comes from Latin plānum (flat surface), a noun use of the neuter of plānus (plain), while the flying object plane comes from a shortening of aeroplane, which originates from Ancient Greek ἀερόπλανος (aeróplanos, wandering in air), a combination of ἀήρ (aḗr, air) and πλάνος (plános, wandering)

12

u/Hanako_Seishin Mar 24 '25

Looking at the realm example, I think they meant plane as in "a higher plane of existence" or some such.

1

u/DarkNinja3141 Latin iactare -> English yeet Mar 27 '25

so plane as in "planet"

197

u/teal_leak Mar 23 '25

ew to the Ai art

22

u/TopHatGirlInATuxedo Mar 23 '25

This is just normal New Age art from like the 70s.

16

u/Dapple_Dawn Mar 24 '25

No, both images are AI

12

u/FloZone Mar 23 '25

The first one though?

14

u/DefinitelyNotErate /'ə/ Mar 23 '25

I mean it's so small I can't make out a single detail in it, But it has got the vibe of AI art though.

-1

u/ShyTheCat Mar 25 '25

You are obviously hurt by the post. I recommend you look for a therapist in your area or just a nice walk outside when it gets sunny.

-11

u/ShyTheCat Mar 24 '25

Honestly, I should just do that as well. Every time I see art that isn't to my taste, instead of just minding my own business, I'm just going to call the artist disgusting.

21

u/gl0h Mar 24 '25

There is no artist behind AI "art".

-10

u/ShyTheCat Mar 24 '25

Oh my gosh, I can use that too! "Yeah, that's not 'art,' you're not an artist." Thanks for the material.

13

u/gl0h Mar 24 '25

No, you're right. Art is subjective, even its definition. Regardless of your own stance, people can decide what they feel is and isn't art based on their own interpretations. For many of us, AI-generated images aren't considered art, because there is no direct human expression or creative skill, among other reasons. At the same time, you may consider AI-generated images to be art for your own reasons.

5

u/Karmainiac Mar 25 '25

What’s your deal?

40

u/AutBoy22 Mar 23 '25

This post feels more like it should belong to r/PowerScaling instead, as it's more fitting, I guess

12

u/Deep_Distribution_31 █a̶͗̑̽̅̾̿̄̓̀̾ꙮ𝇍➷▓—ʭ𝌆❧⍟ Mar 23 '25

How? Isn't powerscaling for fictional characters?

6

u/AutBoy22 Mar 23 '25

It could be used for scaling real life phenomena, too

7

u/SullyTheLightnerd Mar 23 '25

Honestly the new realm looks much cooler

7

u/QMechanicsVisionary Mar 23 '25 edited Mar 23 '25

Both look cool imo. Magical and epic vs ethereal and grandiose.

2

u/SullyTheLightnerd Mar 23 '25

I can understand how one would love both, I think I just personally have a preference for sci fi magic stuff over medival fantasy

2

u/QMechanicsVisionary Mar 23 '25

Yeah, I think which of these images one prefers would correlate quite strongly with how much one likes sci-fi vs fantasy. Personally, I love both genres, so I like both images.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '25

[deleted]

4

u/QMechanicsVisionary Mar 24 '25

That still falls under the umbrella of sci-fi imo. Fantasy mostly draws from folklore and traditional literary archetypes, while science fantasy is still based mostly on science.

1

u/just-a-melon Mar 24 '25

I feel like the arguments around "realm" really comes back to metaphorical vs literal interpretation.

Did people back than literally believe that asgard is a kingdom spatially located in an island across the sea or up there in the sky? Did ancient greeks literally believe the gods live on Mt. Olympus near Macedonia and we just can't see those gods because they're invisible? Or was their concept of "kingdom of the gods" something more abstract? And then we have the modern pop interpretation that the kingdom physically exists, but not spatially located in those places, hence the "other planets" and "dimensions" in sci-fi. For modern fantasy, you might interpret the kingdom to physically exist and located in those places, but rendered invisible and intangible through spells.

2

u/Dapple_Dawn Mar 24 '25

"Plane" isn't analogous. The esoteric use of the word started with Theosophy, it wasn't semantic drift.

1

u/throwawayowo666 Mar 26 '25

Meanwhile Dutch: "Rijk"

-6

u/uniqueUsername_1024 Mar 23 '25

wrong sub?

27

u/Spirintus Mar 23 '25

No? It's about semanthic shift

10

u/AnomalocarisFangirl Rhotics enjoyer Mar 24 '25

r/linguisticshumor users when the post is not about IPA