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There is a series - a continuous series - of transitional cases between the case of someone repeating words from memory and the person who spells out every word without being helped by guessing from context or knowing by heart.
An 'intermediate' reader could spell out most words but guess some from context. Does this mean that 'reading' is a vague concept? Is it like 'bald'?
Wittgenstein suggests an experiment: - (i) first say the numbers 1 to 12 then (ii) look at the dial of your watch and read them. What was it that was called reading in the latter case?
To read them you'd look at each number in turn on the watch as you said them. But what is unusual about this case is that the number series from 1 - 12 is very familiar. This isn't the same as being asked to read a passage in a book that you aren't familiar with. Would this count as a kind of transitional case? - I think it would. - I think this is what Wittgenstein is bringing our attention to.
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