Changes

It is not just the influence of different conventions about language use that forms the source of so much confusion.  Different conventions that prevail in different contexts would generate conceptual turbulence only at their boundaries with each other, and not distribute the disturbance throughout the interiors of these contexts, as is currently the case.  But there are higher order differential conventions, in other words, conventions about changing conventions, that apply without warning all throughout what is pretended to be a uniform context.

It is not just the influence of different conventions about language use that forms the source of so much confusion.  Different conventions that prevail in different contexts would generate conceptual turbulence only at their boundaries with each other, and not distribute the disturbance throughout the interiors of these contexts, as is currently the case.  But there are higher order differential conventions, in other words, conventions about changing conventions, that apply without warning all throughout what is pretended to be a uniform context.

For example, suppose I make a casual reference to the following set of pronouns:

For example, suppose I make a casual reference to the following set of pronouns:

{I, you, he, she, we, they}.

: <math>\{ ~ \text{I}, ~ \text{you}, ~ \text{he}, ~ \text{she}, ~ \text{we}, ~ \text{they} ~ \}.\!</math>

Then chances are that the reader will automatically shift to what I have called the "sign convention" to interpret this reference.  Even without the instruction to expect a set of pronouns, it makes no sense in this setting to think I am referring to a set of people, and so a charitable assumption about my intentions to make sense will lead to the intended interpretation.

Chances are that the reader will automatically shift to what I have called the ''sign convention'' to interpret this reference.  Even without the instruction to expect a set of pronouns, it makes very little sense in this setting to think I am referring to a set of people, and so a charitable assumption about my intentions to make sense will lead to the intended interpretation.

However, suppose I make a similar reference to the following set of variables:

However, suppose I make a similar reference to the following set of variables: