Hacker News Reader

HNHacker News

Top New Best Ask Show Jobs

Comment by ssalka | Hacker News Reader

Full thread

ssalka·

How is disambiguation handled? Many words can mean several things:

Cabinet (storage or govt body)

Keyboard (for typing, or music instrument)

Remote (controller device or distant/far away)

Also any word that can be used as e.g. either a noun or a verb

Etc...

And could words across languages be linked to the same definition? Seems like there are a lot of edge cases that make this type of application more complex than the site indicates

View on HN

It's decided by the owner of the word

IMO that's a really poor strategy. Assuming people use this product, it will alienate anyone who comes later on after all common words have been bought up (or even the owner of a word who would like to use it for two different meanings).

More generally, it's an inaccurate model of language, because it assumes that every word has a single definition - categorically false.

I'm all for people building dapps, but like you I fail to see the utility in this.

I think there could be great utility for a dapp like this, if it was architected differently under more generalized assumptions.

I know this was a few days ago, but I'm curious, what utility do you see for this dapp? I'm trying to wrap my head around the economics. Will properly defined words be more valuable?

Personally, I could see the words being used as building blocks for semantic programs, eg public APIs or smart contracts, or maybe even formal documents (real estate, law, etc). But that kinda only works when you can properly disambiguate words.

It's hard to be sure wether language like the used on this site is a joke or not. But the one thing I really hope is that people will not overwhelming use this product.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com