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Comment by Russ Nelson (russ-nelson-1) on Mapping the semantic void: Strange goings-on in GPT embedding spaces · 2023-12-19T19:30:05.820Z · LW · GW

Fascinating! The noken definition themes remind me of the ethnographer James Spradley's method of domain analysis[1] for categorizing cultural knowledge. An ethnographer elicits a list of terms, actions, and beliefs from members of a particular cultural group and maps their relations in terms of shared or contrasting features as well as hierarchy.

Spradley's Types of Relationships for Domain Analysis

For example, a domain analysis of medical residents working in an ER might include the slang term "gomer,"[2] to refer pejoratively to a patient who is down and out and admitted to the hospital with untreatable conditions.[3]

  1. The Ethnographic Interview by James P. Spradley. ↩︎

  2. e.g., "Get out of my emergency room" ↩︎

  3. BMJ article on the usage of the term 'gomer' ↩︎