The Semantic Sphere 1: Computation, Cognition and Information Economy

Chapter 10

The IEML Metalanguage

Having described the main formal characteristics of the system of semantic coordinates of the mind in the preceding chapter, I will now discuss the strictly linguistic dimension of this system. Each USL, i.e. each “point” of the semantic sphere, is an IEML text that can be translated automatically into a network of concepts in natural languages. Figure 10.1 shows the place of this metalinguistic dimension in my general model of reflexive collective intelligence.

10.1. The problem of encoding concepts

In the 17th Century, the philosopher, mathematician and scientist W.G. Leibniz (1646–1716) examined the problem of the calculability of concepts understood as distinct but interdependent semantic qualities¹. Leibniz called the system of encoding that would allow concepts to be manipulated using automata the universal characteristic. The system imagined by Leibniz identified primitive concepts with prime numbers, and composite concepts with multiples of those prime numbers. Since numbers are calculable, the encoding of concepts by numbers was intended to make concepts calculable. Despite this, Leibniz’s universal characteristic was very unwieldy. His system had no lasting success or direct successors in its original form. We can see from the work of my illustrious predecessor that sheer calculability is not enough. It is still necessary to encode concepts so that their manipulation can be usefully automated.

Figure 10.1. Position of Chapter 10 on the ...