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jcansdale2 t1_jdc5lte wrote

> Literally none of these cut-and-paste color-texture-animal-verb-adverb responses satisfies the query, and to get even a little bit closer with GPT, you have to explicitly beg for examples of contradictions and category errors.

What do you think of this exchange?

Q: Why is the sentence “colorless green ideas sleep furiously” interesting?

The sentence "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously" is interesting because it was constructed by Noam Chomsky, a renowned linguist and philosopher, as an example of a sentence that is grammatically correct but semantically nonsensical. It appears in his 1957 book "Syntactic Structures" to illustrate the distinction between syntax and semantics.

Syntax refers to the rules governing how words are combined to form sentences, whereas semantics deals with the meaning of words and sentences. Chomsky's sentence demonstrates that a sentence can follow the rules of grammar and be well-formed syntactically, but still not convey any coherent meaning or make logical sense.

This example has become famous in the fields of linguistics, cognitive science, and philosophy of language, as it highlights the importance of studying both syntax and semantics in order to understand human language fully.

Q: Generate ten grammatically correct but semantically nonsensical sentences.

  1. The thunderous apples danced gracefully on the invisible horizon.
  2. Enthusiastic mountains prefer to whisper their secrets to the shy sun.
  3. Ancient mirrors routinely question the singing aroma of blue thoughts.
  4. Radiant forks somersault over melancholic rainbows, embracing the breeze.
  5. In the darkness, time devours the laughter of square-shaped oceans.
  6. Forgotten umbrellas dream of the symphony that once painted the wind.
  7. In the midnight circus, cheerful numbers juggle the taste of silence.
  8. The eloquent moon unravels a tapestry of bittersweet equations beneath the sea.
  9. Solitary clouds orchestrate the ballet of translucent stones in the sky.
  10. Emerald snowflakes pirouette amidst the curious rhythm of enchanted shadows.

Q: Sort these in order of nonsensicalness.

Sorting these sentences in order of nonsensicalness can be subjective, as different people may perceive various aspects of these sentences differently. However, here's one possible ordering, starting with the least nonsensical to the most nonsensical:

  1. In the darkness, time devours the laughter of square-shaped oceans.
  2. Solitary clouds orchestrate the ballet of translucent stones in the sky.
  3. Forgotten umbrellas dream of the symphony that once painted the wind.
  4. The eloquent moon unravels a tapestry of bittersweet equations beneath the sea.
  5. Radiant forks somersault over melancholic rainbows, embracing the breeze.
  6. Emerald snowflakes pirouette amidst the curious rhythm of enchanted shadows.
  7. The thunderous apples danced gracefully on the invisible horizon.
  8. Enthusiastic mountains prefer to whisper their secrets to the shy sun.
  9. Ancient mirrors routinely question the singing aroma of blue thoughts.
  10. In the midnight circus, cheerful numbers juggle the taste of silence.

Remember that this ordering is subjective and open to interpretation. Others might find a different arrangement more fitting.

Q: Explain your reasoning.

My reasoning for the ordering of these sentences is based on the degree of disconnection between the words and concepts in each sentence. I've considered the relationship between subjects, verbs, and objects, as well as the overall coherence of the images or ideas evoked.

  1. In the darkness, time devours the laughter of square-shaped oceans.
  • The metaphorical use of "time devours" and "darkness" is somewhat comprehensible, but the concept of "square-shaped oceans" introduces a high level of nonsense.
  1. Solitary clouds orchestrate the ballet of translucent stones in the sky.
  • Although "solitary clouds" and "sky" are related, the idea of clouds orchestrating a ballet of stones is nonsensical.
  1. Forgotten umbrellas dream of the symphony that once painted the wind.
  • The sentence creates a somewhat poetic image, but the concepts of umbrellas dreaming and a symphony painting the wind are illogical.
  1. The eloquent moon unravels a tapestry of bittersweet equations beneath the sea.
  • The combination of "eloquent moon" and "tapestry of bittersweet equations" is imaginative but nonsensical, especially when placed "beneath the sea."
  1. Radiant forks somersault over melancholic rainbows, embracing the breeze.
  • The sentence combines unrelated concepts like forks, rainbows, and somersaults, creating a highly nonsensical image.
  1. Emerald snowflakes pirouette amidst the curious rhythm of enchanted shadows.
  • The combination of "emerald snowflakes" and "pirouette" evokes a sense of movement and color, but the overall sentence is difficult to make sense of.
  1. The thunderous apples danced gracefully on the invisible horizon.
  • This sentence combines unrelated ideas like "thunderous apples" and "invisible horizon," making it difficult to visualize or understand.
  1. Enthusiastic mountains prefer to whisper their secrets to the shy sun.
  • The anthropomorphism of mountains and sun as "enthusiastic" and "shy" creates a whimsical but nonsensical scenario.
  1. Ancient mirrors routinely question the singing aroma of blue thoughts.
  • The sentence combines unrelated and incompatible concepts like "mirrors," "singing aroma," and "blue thoughts," making it highly nonsensical.
  1. In the midnight circus, cheerful numbers juggle the taste of silence.
  • This sentence is the most nonsensical because it combines abstract ideas like "cheerful numbers" with unrelated physical concepts like "juggling" and "taste of silence."

Keep in mind that this reasoning is subjective, and other interpretations might lead to a different ordering of nonsensicalness.

Edit: fixed formatting

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sam__izdat t1_jdef39d wrote

> What do you think of this exchange?

It's somewhat closer to a reasonable response than anything I could get out of it.

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jcansdale2 t1_jdh57gy wrote

Were you using ChatGPT 3.5 or 4? 3.5 only seems to combine unlikely and unrelated elements, but 4 combines unrelated and incompatible concepts. I think 4 does much better at this task!

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