Japanese Translation of Plurality

• Audrey Tang speaks the word “digital” in traditional Chinese as 數位.

  • In Japanese Kanji, it might be 数位.
  • It seems to have the meanings of “digital” and “plural,” which she finds fitting.
    • It’s interesting, but might be hard to convey in Japanese.

• Plurality is understood as human cognitive diversity.

  • It’s thought that using the term directly may make it hard to understand that it refers to the plurality of “humans.”
  • The scope is unclear.

• If one wants to introduce concepts not existing in Japanese from overseas, translation seems like part of that work.

  • It’s like what Fukuzawa Yukichi and people from the Meiji era did.
    • Words like “society,” “capital,” “art,” “occupation,” “production,” and “thought” were all created in Japanese when concepts were brought in from overseas during the Meiji era.
    • Cool stuff (tkgshn)

• How would you translate Plurality and Pluralism into Japanese?

  • What would be a good translation?
    • It seems good to compress the meaning of the concept while having connections with existing words.
  • Multiplicity, Pluralism
    • Instead of monism or dualism, we can say pluralism.
    • It aligns well with the concept of 多元数 and seems very good (blu3mo)(blu3mo)
    • Sounds good (blu3mo)(natsuozawa)(tkgshn)
  • Complexity, Complexism
    • I think this is not bad (blu3mo)
    • It’s like having multiple “elements.”
    • It overlaps with the concept of Complex Numbers.
      • Although in English, complex numbers are called Complex Numbers, Complexity also seems closely related to Plurality.
      • Complex numbers sound plural, but in reality, they are disappointingly just binary numbers of 1 and i (blu3mo)
  • Multiplicity, Multivalency
    • It seems close to human cognitive diversity as having many “values.”
    • There’s a resemblance to 多価関数.
      • It feels very much like plurality when a group of humans has multiple outputs for one input.
    • While the concept of multivalence exists in chemistry, there may not be much connection.
  • Polysemy, Polysemyism
    • It’s a state of having many definitions, many principles, many moralities.

      • “Gi” is a concept related to human actions, thoughts, and morals, meaning “I, beautiful (believe),” “good,” “right.”

        • Norms, Ethics, Values
      • It aligns well with human cognitive diversity.
        • Ah, but there might be a problem if there isn’t a broader expansion of concepts beyond that.
        • It’s not just about “gi” that should be plural (blu3mo)
          • Human cognitive diversity includes more than just “gi.”
    • When written as “polysemyism,” there’s a meta-structure of having many principles, which is interesting (blu3mo)(blu3mo)
    • This seems quite good (blu3mo)(blu3mo)
      • Indeed (tkgshn)
  • Polymorphism, Polymorphismism
    • The translation of Polymorphism (CS, Biology) is often rendered as polymorphism.

      • This term is borrowed from biology, where organic tissues and species are said to have various forms and stages.

        • It’s also known as 多態性 or 多型性.
    • It’s like having many “aspects” in the term “relativism,” which is very much like plurality (blu3mo)
    • The kanji “相”

      • A pictograph of “tree” and “eye.” Since the eye is facing the tree, it signifies looking closely and examining. Also, from facing each other, it implies “mutual” and “helping each other.”

      • This could represent the collaborative aspect of plurality (blu3mo)
    • This might be my favorite (blu3mo)
  • 八百万性, Eight Millionism
    • Feels very Japanese (?)
    • It connects to the idea of polytheism within the dichotomy of monotheism vs. polytheism, which is interesting (blu3mo)
      • Pretty cool (tkgshn)- I merged my explanation (contrasting a single central government with diverse people) with [Nishio]‘s.
  • 
  • https://kozaneba.netlify.app/#edit=FLpUkjmsFr75ywC3JGg1

• I see, [Blu3mo] got an idea of how to use [Kozaneba] (Blu3mo).

According to Glen, it seems that [Digital] comes before and its English translation is “Plurality”: [/plurality-japanese/Please feel free to use words as you like](https://scrapbox.io/plurality-japanese/Please feel free to use words as you like) (Nishio).

• I’m starting to feel that “multiverse” might be a good fit (Nishio).

  • The term “multiverse” doesn’t align with the image of “Plurality” I have (Blu3mo).

    • While “multiverse” is fine, it’s unclear why it’s associated with “universe.”
    • “Multiverse” sounds like a metaphysical discussion about possible worlds, but Plurality doesn’t engage in such discussions.

  • However, if Audrey Tang approves of it, there seem to be two possibilities:

    • As a third possibility, let’s consider the theory that it’s merely a label and what matters is the content (Nishio).
      • Ultimately, any name is just a flag, and what’s crucial is whether many people gather under that flag. If many people appreciate the flag of multiverse, then choosing that naming could be beneficial, reflecting this kind of thinking.

• I want to oppose the official title being “Prorality” lol (Nishio).
• /plurality-japanese/Prorality

[/nishio/Digital/Multiverse and Japanese Translation](https://scrapbox.io/nishio/Digital/Multiverse and Japanese Translation)

• I’m starting to feel that if I want to properly translate the dual meaning of “Digital,” I have no choice but to use “Digital Plurality” (Nishio).
  • There are instances in Mandarin where “Digital” and “Plurality” are used separately.
  • In English, both are translated as “Plurality.”
  • While “Digital” does have the meaning of “multiple,” it leans more towards “digital.” When “Plurality” is used in the context of discussing the diverse aspect rather than the digital aspect, it seems appropriate to use “multiverse.”
  • So, I think we shouldn’t discard the digital nuances when using “Digital.”
•