Number of languages known [was Re: Python is readable] - somewhat OT

[Phil Runciman]

> On Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 4:20 PM, Terry Reedy <tjreedy at udel.edu> wrote:

> > On 4/3/2012 8:39 AM, Nathan Rice wrote:
> >
> > > Ultimately, the answers to your questions exist in the world for you
> > > to see.  How does a surgeon describe a surgical procedure?  How does
> > > a chef describe a recipe?  How does a carpenter describe the process
> > > of building cabinets?  Aside from specific words, they all use 
> > > natural language, and it works just fine.
> >
> >
> > Not really. Surgeon's learn by *watching* a surgeon who knows the operation
> > and next (hopefully) doing a particular surgery under supervision of such a
> > surgeon, who watches and talks, and may even grab the instruments and
> > re-show. They then really learn by doing the procedure on multiple
> > people. They often kill a few on the way to mastery.
>  
> 
> Well, there is declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge.  In all
> these cases, only the procedural knowledge is absolutely necessary,
> but the declarative knowledge is usually a prerequisite to learning
> the procedure in any sort of reasonable manner.

There is also tacit knowledge. Such knowledge is a precursor to declarative knowledge and therefore procedural knowledge. "Tacit knowledge is not easily shared. It involves learning and skill, but not in a way that can be written down. Tacit knowledge consists often of habits and culture that we do not recognize in ourselves." Wikipedia.

The process of eliciting tacit knowledge may be time consuming and require patience and skill. The following book covers aspects of this: Nonaka, Ikujiro; Takeuchi, Hirotaka (1995), The knowledge creating company: how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation. 

Phil Runciman