Editing Language Barrier Problem

Title: Language Barrier Problem

Abstract: This research aims to make it easier for specialists in one field to find and explore ideas from another field that might be useful in solving a new problem in their practice. It presents a methodology that serves to represent the relationships between concepts, problems, and solution patterns from different fields of human activity in the form of a graph. Our approach is based on generalization and specialization relationships and problem solving. It is simple enough to be understood quite easily, and general enough to enable coherent integration of concepts and problems from virtually any field. We have built an implementation that uses the World Wide Web as a support to allow navigation between graph nodes and collaborative development of the graph.

Introduction:

The problem we are concerned with in this work is extremely common in today's world. Anyone who has consulted a doctor without understanding medicine very well has encountered a language barrier first-hand: while the doctor (usually) knows what he is doing and can discuss it with other experts in the same field, the patient will understand very little of what is going on in such a dialogue, as it will be replete with terms that mean nothing to them. This can be a frustrating predicament, especially as the issues under discussion may greatly matter to the patient.

Specialization is a way of increasing overall efficiency; one of the better examples is Henry Ford's introduction of the assembly line for manufacturing cars. By assigning to each member of the production team a single task to be performed on the cars as they pass by slowly down the assembly line, Ford realized a tremendous gain in efficiency compared to traditional assembly methods.

While specialization is desirable from that particular point of view, it also has a downside: the more a person becomes specialized, the less they can meaningfully discuss problems that matter to them with other people. In effect, the specialist is very often restricted to collaboration with other specialists in the same area. As one gets more and more specialized, pools of colleagues grow ever smaller. This is unfortunate because discussions with specialists in another area often prove to be fertile ground, as ideas and strategies which were first developed in one field often turn out to be adaptable to a problem in a different field. Incidentally, breakthroughs often result from interdisciplinary collaboration: it is not unusual that effective tools for tackling long-standing problems are found in another area.

Interdisciplinary communication is thus desirable from the point of view of progress; that is, it is helpful in solving problems, especially the more important and challenging ones. Consequently, finding efficient ways of communicating without alienating oneself from outsiders is becoming an increasingly pressing problem for people who are not content with speaking only with an inner circle of colleagues. A way to alleviate the problem is to learn another specialty, which will provide opportunities for discussion with a larger circle of people. However, learning a specialty usually involves a considerable time investment; moreover, there are so many different specialties that even selecting a promising one can be a difficult problem in itself.

A Language Issue:

Human communication is an activity whose goal is to convey meaning from one person to another. Language is a set of signals (such as words, images, or gestures) that serves to conduct it. In order for two people to communicate, it is necessary that they agree on signals and their meanings. A language barrier exists whenever the signals one person uses are not recognized or have different meanings for the other person.

Since different specialties are concerned with different things, specialists develop different languages that enable them to communicate efficiently amongst themselves. The advantage of developing a specialized language is that it allows specialists to communicate effectively within their field.

Research Question, Methodology, and Results:

The main research question addressed in this work is: How can specialists in different fields communicate effectively and efficiently to solve problems and share knowledge?

To answer this question, we developed a methodology based on generalization and specialization relationships and problem solving. Our approach serves to represent the relationships between concepts, problems, and solution patterns from different fields of human activity in the form of a graph. This graph allows specialists from different fields to navigate and communicate with each other, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge sharing.

We have built an implementation of our methodology that uses the World Wide Web as a support to allow navigation between graph nodes and collaborative development of the graph. This implementation enables specialists to find and explore ideas from other fields that might be useful in solving a new problem in their practice.

Implications:

The implications of this research are significant for the academic community, industry, and society at large. By providing a means for specialists in different fields to communicate effectively and efficiently, this research has the potential to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery and technological innovation, ultimately leading to improved societal well-being. Furthermore, the methodology developed in this work can be applied to various domains, such as education and healthcare, to facilitate better understanding and collaboration among stakeholders.

Link to Article: https://arxiv.org/abs/0110041v1
Authors: 
arXiv ID: 0110041v1

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