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Moon7296 Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
parallel construction
Perhaps it was the movies that led us to believe we would have intelligent robots as companions. Certainly most AI, or artificial intelligence, researchers believed that creating machines that were our intellectual equals or better was a real possibility.
Q)
1. Certainly most AI, or artificial intelligence, researchers believed that creating machines that were our intellectual equals or better was a real possibility. (Original sentence)
2. Certainly most AI, or artificial intelligence, researchers believed that creating machines that were our intellectual equals or better (intellectual equals) was a real possibility.
Is the underlined part thought to be omitted when we think of the sentence structure and its meaning?
My student asked this. "Isn't or an element that makes words parellel?"
1. Only girls or boys took that course.
2. Only girls or better took that course. (You don't say this right?)
Just as you don't say #2, my students wondered why the underlined structure is like that.
So I thought a noun part "creating machines" and another possibly noun part "better" (interllectual equals) are parelleled.
Q)
1. Certainly most AI, or artificial intelligence, researchers believed that creating machines that were our intellectual equals or better was a real possibility. (Original sentence)
2. Certainly most AI, or artificial intelligence, researchers believed that creating machines that were our intellectual equals or better (intellectual equals) was a real possibility.
Is the underlined part thought to be omitted when we think of the sentence structure and its meaning?
My student asked this. "Isn't or an element that makes words parellel?"
1. Only girls or boys took that course.
2. Only girls or better took that course. (You don't say this right?)
Just as you don't say #2, my students wondered why the underlined structure is like that.
So I thought a noun part "creating machines" and another possibly noun part "better" (interllectual equals) are parelleled.
Top answer
e. more intelligent than us). It does not mean "better intellectual equals".
- e.
- more intelligent than us).
- It does not mean "better intellectual equals".
- "or better" can be used in this way after nouns that admit a relevant comparison.
- For example: "You need a 'C' or better to pass the exam".
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1 Answers
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Logically, "better" means "better than our intellectual equals" (i.e. more intelligent than us). It does not mean "better intellectual equals".
"or better" can be used in this way after nouns that admit a relevant comparison. For example: "You need a 'C' or better to pass the exam". "Only girls or better took that course" does not make sense: there is no scale of things involving girls an
"or better" can be used in this way after nouns that admit a relevant comparison. For example: "You need a 'C' or better to pass the exam". "Only girls or better took that course" does not make sense: there is no scale of things involving girls an
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