...whereas with vampires, you’re stuck pointing to a collection of fictional representations. This restricts certain information-gathering techniques (you can’t put a vampire under a microscope; at best, you can use a fictional account of a vampire under a microscope) but shouldn’t make the exercise impossible. I’m pretty sure we could convey ‘stop sign’ without ever letting you observe a real-life stop sign.
...whereas with vampires, you’re stuck pointing to a collection of fictional representations. This restricts certain information-gathering techniques (you can’t put a vampire under a microscope; at best, you can use a fictional account of a vampire under a microscope) but shouldn’t make the exercise impossible. I’m pretty sure we could convey ‘stop sign’ without ever letting you observe a real-life stop sign.