Propinquity and Meaning

 We have the words and their meanings. How do we turn those into operators?

He cut the rope.

We assume this means he cut through or severed the rope.

There are a lot of meanings for “cut” as a verb:

    Definition: make an opening, incision, or wound in (something) with a sharp-edged tool or object
    Definition: make an incision in one's own flesh, as a symptom of emotional distress
    Definition: inanimate sharp object wounds person
    Definition: divide into pieces with a knife or other sharp implement
    Definition: separate (something) into two; sever
    Definition: remove (something) from something larger by using a sharp implement
    Definition: castrate (an animal, especially a horse)
    Definition: make or form (something) by using a sharp tool to remove material
    Definition: make or design (a garment) in a particular way
    Definition: make (a path, tunnel, or other route) by excavation, digging, or chopping
    Definition: make (a sound recording)
    Definition: trim or reduce the length of (something, especially grass or a person's hair or fingernails) by using a sharp implement
    Definition: reduce the amount or quantity of (something)
    Definition: abridge (a text, movie, or performance) by removing material
    Definition: delete (part of a text or other display) completely or so as to insert a copy of it elsewhere
    Definition: (in sports) remove (a player) from a team's roster
    Definition: switch off (an engine or a light)
    Definition: absent oneself deliberately from (something one should normally attend, especially school)
    Definition: ignore or refuse to recognize (someone)
    Definition: (of a line) cross or intersect (another line)
    Definition: stop activity
    Definition: make (a movie) into a coherent whole by removing parts or placing them in a different order
    Definition: divide (a pack of playing cards) by lifting a portion from the top, either to reveal or draw a card at random or to place the top portion under the bottom portion
    Definition: adulterate (a drug) or dilute (alcohol) by mixing it with another substance
    Definition: come up to expectations; meet requirements
    Definition: make an opening, incision, or wound in (something) with a sharp-edged tool or object
    Definition: make an incision in one's own flesh, as a symptom of emotional distress
    Definition: make divisions in (something)
    Definition: make something by cutting
    Definition: remove, exclude, or stop eating or doing something undesirable
    Definition: separate an animal from the main herd
    Definition: make (a path, tunnel, or other route) by excavation, digging, or chopping
    Definition: trim or reduce the length of (something, especially grass or a person's hair or fingernails) by using a sharp implement
    Definition: reduce the amount or quantity of (something)
    Definition: leave or move hurriedly
    Definition: stop activity
    Definition: move to another shot in a movie
   Definition: ignore boundaries
   Definition: pass or traverse, especially so as to shorten one's route
   Definition: To hurry away; to escape
   Definition: To abandon a position as quickly as possible
   Definition: make an opening, incision, or wound in (something) so as to avoid or encircle (something)
   Definition: move rapidly or make a sharp turn around (something), often to evade someone or something
   Definition: cut and remove
   Definition: move quickly to another scene or focus when filming
   Definition: cut down on
   Definition: place restrictions on
   Definition: To bypass a prescribed route so as to gain competitive advantage or to circumvent traffic signals or other rules of the road
   Definition: free (someone or something) from something which holds or restricts them
Definition: distance oneself from a person, group, or system by which one is unduly influenced or on which one is overdependent
Definition: act without restraint
Definition: free people or animals from captivity
Definition: block the usual means of access to a place
Definition: end or interrupt the provision of (something, especially power or food supplies)
Definition: remove (something) from something larger by using a sharp implement
Definition: remove (something) from something larger by using a sharp implement
Definition: (of a person or animal) be wounded by an inanimate sharp object
Definition: remove, exclude, or stop eating or doing something undesirable
Definition: (of a machine) stop unexpectedly
Definition: interrupt before its natural or planned end
Definition: cause to end earlier than intended
Definition: Do a good job or fulfil expectations
Definition: make (a path, tunnel, or other route) by excavation, digging, or chopping
Definition: move to another scene when filming
Definition: cut (something) into (pieces)
Definition: behave in a mischievous or unruly manner
Definition: make divisions in (something)
Definition: (of soft ground) rutted and uneven after the passage of heavy vehicles or animals

There are ninety=three definitions, made up of direct definitions and definitions for collocated verbs (cut off, cut out, cut down)

Someone commented on LinkedIn that the only people who still believe in LLMs for non-Search Engine use are idiots or crooks.

Leaving the crooks to their snake oil, maybe not idiots, but people who have a lot to learn about what their Unconscious Mind gets up to. They don’t realise that something is working very hard to make things look easy. We have to do the same thing with a machine – we have 90,000 definitions, and for a while we will need to stick to bounded problems (a thousand-page piece of legislation perhaps – the BBB is 940 pages – too big for most legislators to bother reading – too important not to read carefully).

Can the meaning of a word be determined by propinquity alone? Maybe some of the time, as long as unreliability or hallucinations aren’t a problem. That does not apply to documents moving trillions of dollars around, or specifying projects in the hundreds of billions. These are documents beyond human ability to comprehend in their entirety without considerable help.

Orion Semantic AI