Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Intent and Knowledge

These are two different technical states of mind, but for most purposes it doesn't really matter which of them you fall into. Apologies in advance about my examples, but I would like to keep them G-rated. No killing people on this blog.

An example of intent: I hit the send button on my cell phone. I intend to hit the button. I thus intend to make a phone call.

An example of knowledge: I cracked two eggs into a saucepan (or other appropriate pan- I'm not an expert here). I turned on the burner, virtually certain that eventually I would cook my eggs. I have knowingly cooked my eggs.