parsing in general
Ferenc
another item (inside) in order to find out if it is possible to
decompose (analyze) the item outside as a complex or composite of any
items (inside). This may be possible, so the cycle is repeated until
the item outside is just the same pattern (size, quality), etc. as the
smallest unit existing (terminal symbol). Such an analysis depends on
the patterns you have inside to compare the items outside to. If it is
a dot, a line, a plane, or any other geometrically reduced or
schematized items and non geometric symbols or patterns, it may even
be a photo. So this is in fact physical analysis of electronically
generated patterns read in from outside and analyzed in terms of those
stored inside.
Humans do mental analysis the actual working is not known, but many
aspects are studied and represented usually in geometric forms and
analyzed in numeric terms. Insight, intuition and introspection are
not much help in describing them as they cannot be brought to a common
set of symbols as we use a natural language AND algebra to try to
visualize what is going on as we believe what we see and visual
representation helps understanding in most cases. But what do we need
to understand and/or identify in mental analysis? Well it is certainly
not what we individually figure out about reality, but what we
collectively agree on what reality is about as long as we belong to a
community. So we have primary input to share in spacetime, the
operation to chunk that primary input into units of equal size and
pattern so those chunks should be the same for all of us, the naming
of those chunks in compliance with the rule that such chunks and names
mutually refer to each other, and then have this relation documented
in our head in a ,model that can be shared and compared and offered
for public checking (for reality). This model is therefore either a
textual model (definitions, lexical knowledge) or a graphical-visual
representation of the agreed and aligned relations of former two with
drawings rather than words, or a combination of the two - available
for public inspection and check.
Clearly, in such an exercise the agreement of the parties on what
means what will depend on their individual knowledge, and language
spoken.So when they open their books and dictionaries in the head they
should find out that they use the same library, other wise they are
fucked.