Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2021 November 21

= November 21 =

Behavior of a stillsuit in Dune (2021 film)

 * A stillsuit is a high-efficiency filtration system. Even this early in the morning, you wouldn't survive two hours without one of these. It cools the body and recycles the water lost to sweat.

What does "recycles the water lost to sweat" mean? Rizosome (talk) 05:45, 21 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Same as "lost by sweating" or "lost from sweating". Clarityfiend (talk) 08:24, 21 November 2021 (UTC)
 * More completely: sweating involves water (containing salts) leaving the body; usually this sweated water is lost to the air through evaporation (in order to cool the body), and has to be replaced by drinking more water (and/or eating water-containing food). In the deserts of the planet Arrakis there is no naturally available water, so the stillsuit collects the water of the sweat and stores it (presumably with the salts removed) so that it can be re-drunk (i.e. recycled).
 * Note that the stillsuit is a science-fictional invention that Frank Herbert required for his story to work. In practice it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to design such an all-covering suit to both cool the body and retain sweat. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.205.225.31 (talk) 19:12, 21 November 2021 (UTC)
 * It is also a good reminder that in the genre of science-fiction, it is the "fiction" part of the term that does the heavy lifting. -- Jayron 32 01:54, 22 November 2021 (UTC)

Lack of specific knowledge
The word "ignorance" can suggest a lack of education (or worse). Words like "uncertainty" and "doubt(fulness)" suggest anxiety. These words are not neutral terms. We do not have specific knowledge about many things, but not for lack of education, while we also are not anguished by it. For example, no one today knows whether P = NP, or whether dark matter consists of unknown subatomic particles. I would like to know if there is a neutral one-word term in English for such an absence of knowledge? :wimdw: 14:31, 21 November 2021 (UTC) -- Preceding unsigned comment added by Wimdw (talk  o  contribs)


 * Donald Rumsfeld would call such areas of uncertainty "known unknowns"... AnonMoos (talk) 15:44, 21 November 2021 (UTC)
 * But how might the Rums have referred to the attendant uncertainty? Known unknowledge? (Not one word as requested.) --Lambiam 21:01, 21 November 2021 (UTC)


 * Such words do not have a fixed, non-neutral meaning, but a range of meanings that are different in different contexts. They usually have negative connotations when used in casual speech, may or may not have negative connotations in formal speech, and usually do not have negative connotations when used in a scientific or philosophical context.
 * To my observations, many conflicts arise in society because most people insufficiently take note of the casual, formal or scientific/philosophical context of words being used, and misunderstand the user's intent. Sometimes this "misunderstanding is deliberate (see Equivocation), and deliberately deployed to dishonestly misrepresent others' positions. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.205.225.31 (talk) 19:20, 21 November 2021 (UTC)


 * That's an excellent and very well-explained answer from 31. Isn't the word simply "unknown"?--Shantavira|feed me 09:30, 22 November 2021 (UTC)
 * The original question is about a neutral synonym of the words "ignorance" and "uncertainty". You cannot rephrase "scientists haven't let their uncertainty about the nature of dark energy prevent them from postulating several different theories" as "scientists haven't let their unknown about the nature of dark energy prevent them from postulating several different theories".  --Lambiam 13:10, 22 November 2021 (UTC)
 * I would suggest that for all practical purposes, the term "uncertainty" fits the bill when used in a formal context. No-one would interpret Heisenberg's uncertainty principle as having anything to do with anxiety. Since English does not build long words like in German and in the Scandinavian languages, it is not really logical to uphold a one-word restriction, so "lack of knowledge" or perhaps "knowlegde deficit" might be candidates. In my own language I can offhand think of three "long words" that fits the bill (and are in common use). All of them may or may not have negative connotations, depending on the context. --T*U (talk) 14:05, 22 November 2021 (UTC)

Knightian uncertainty and the Ellsberg paradox might be of interest to OP. 2602:24A:DE47:B8E0:1B43:29FD:A863:33CA (talk) 02:58, 23 November 2021 (UTC)


 * There's incognizance. Card Zero  (talk) 11:04, 24 November 2021 (UTC)