Saturday, June 2, 2018

What is a description?


Photo source: Wikimedia Commons, Flamenco108

What is a description? Here is my definition:
A description is a linguistic representation
I believe that all descriptions use language. Descriptions are a particular type of representation which use words to convey things. Descriptions can be contrasted with other types of representations such as models and pictures.

Although we can use pictures to display information, sometimes it's more effective to use words. This is why we often see captions attached to pictures. In this regard, descriptions have greater potential to provide knowledge than images alone.

License: CC BY-SA 4.0