CONCEPT
The Five Doors
The thought experiment that demonstrates a single proposition — <em>the door is open</em> — can carry five entirely different meanings depending on the language game played, dismantling the picture theory from within.
The Ludwig Wittgenstein — On AI volume constructs an extended demonstration in Chapter 3: the same five words — the door is open — serve five distinct communicative functions depending on context. As description, as request to close, as encouragement to pursue opportunity, as forensic observation, as reassurance to a frightened child. None of the five is the real meaning. The meaning is constituted by the language game being played. Remove the context and the sentence is not thin in meaning; it has no meaning at all — words waiting to be used, the way a chess piece in a box has no position until placed on the board.
In The You On AI Field Guide
The demonstration is Wittgenstein's method: look and see. The picture theory says a meaningful proposition mirrors a possible state of affairs. But the door is open does not mirror five different states depending on context. It mirrors one physical arrangement — a door that is not closed —
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