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margalabargalayesterday at 1:57 PM1 replyview on HN

My opinion is different from yours.

If I have a translation of a book, I think I have more of that book than if I had nothing at all. It's fuzzy.


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fluoridationyesterday at 2:39 PM

You don't have the book, you have someone else's interpretation of the book's contents, re-expressed into a language you can read. Both steps can involve a loss or distortion of information, either because the translator doesn't fully grasp the original language or context, or because in the re-expression they chose to leave out details that were relevant to you. The more distant the original language to yours, the more translation involves interpretation, too. A translation is really not too different from a commentary; it's just a different text.

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