Shouts From Down Under

What's in a name? Understanding comes after dizziness

Warning: Contains bible quotes...

A curious query to the artificial collective brain of mankind.

Ok, maybe that's exagerating things but the challenging words I asked of Google were these;

"When something is defined by it's name"

When the name declared for an object is the same as what the object actually is.

What I was getting at, was that objects can be named the very definition of what they are. This isn't so hard to understand if you think about it.

For example we know the names of these things; Car, Tree, sky

Now if we name our Car "Henry" for instance then that is a name we've declared the object to be named, but the name "Henry" is not what the object is. The object isn't a "Henry", it's a Car.

So it is with a Dog. We all know that dogs are called dogs. If we name a dog Spot then that name, Spot is a declared name; a declaration. The dog is not defined as a Spot. It's defined as a dog.
Therefore the name dog is it's definition. The name Spot is a declaration.

So if we named a dog Dog then the dog is it's name. It's declared name is the same as it's defined name.

My thought process and origination of this strange (and I can hear you saying, pointless, even boring) explanation or debate was prompted by the biblical verse in;

Exodus 15:3 The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.

There is more to this verse than at first glance.

If you understand about the "nickname" we give something, and its actual defining name, then the proper meaning of this verse can be better understood.
Well, that's how I understand it for myself and I won't elaborate on it, except to say that understanding this difference in the way things are named can turn into a red spots in front of your eyes headache of confusion.

I find it amazing that the answer Google gave me , in many hits was about programming computers in the following link.

This IS boring stuff. But basically says the same statement

"When something is defined by it's name",

except in this case it isn't talking about tangible physical objects you can hold in your hand, but software programming.

http://www.cprogramming.com/declare_vs_define.html

What it Means to Define Something in C and C++
Defining something means providing all of the necessary information to create that thing in its entirety. Defining a function means providing a function body; defining a class means giving all of the methods of the class and the fields. Once something is defined, that also counts as declaring it; so you can often both declare and define a function, class or variable at the same time. But you don't have to.

Perhaps, armed with this understanding of how names differ, this might shed a little light on the biblical verse in Exodus 3:14

"And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."

The next link is nicknames given to cricketers over the years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_used_in_cricket
nicknames in cricket

So I feel we cannot get anyone more honest and transparent than someone who IS who they really are. No hidden meanings or intentions, no unpredictable reactions, no baggage, no lies, nothing artificial, no acting, no pretence.

Does such a person exist? I don't believe so. It's no excuse, but it is a fact. We are only human and no one is perfect.

Probably enough for one blog if anyone has managed to read it to here!

Sparky