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Re: The issue of Context [was - Re: [ontolog-forum] file comments -- r

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From: Adam Pease <adampease@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 13:27:18 -0800
Message-id: <5.0.0.25.0.20040223132213.01dc0e78@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Peter,
   I personally don't see how a discussion on context logic can do anything 
but sap energy from our nascent formalization effort.  If there's a serious 
proposal, I'd suggest that it be offered to a peer reviewed conference, 
since any practical implementation of context logic and reasoning that 
could actually help us here would also be a major advance in the study of 
context logic.  If a proposal can't get accepted or hasn't been formulated 
to the point of even being a mature submission to the context logic 
conference, it's unlikely to be of any practical benefit to this 
group.  The primary context conference web site I'm aware of is 
<http://www.context.umcs.maine.edu/>    (01)

Adam    (02)



At 12:47 PM 2/23/2004 -0800, Peter Yim wrote:
>Adam,
>
>1.
> > ... But there's no agreed on solution for it, ... (and)
> > ... we don't collectively have the background to even address the
> > topic intelligently. ...
>
>I am in agreement, and hence my earlier suggestion to:
>
> >> that we don't pause our current attempt to formalize UBL v1.0 ... >> 
> ... just make sure it does not break up our project work.
>(if you prefer the word "distract", that is fine too)
>
> >> start a new thread to discuss on how we want to deal with
> >> "context"
>
>and,
>
> >> I humbly solicit input from those of you who can throw some light
> >> onto the matter. Try bringing in people who aren't already in the
> >> community to help too.
>
>2. As for,
>
> > context is important ... But ... we're not going to solve it here.
>
>We will have to address this in due course, we might as well start the 
>separate discourse sooner rather than later (provided that it is not 
>hampering our progress with the more basic attempts.)
>I think we'll all hope that you are wrong on this one. :-)
>
>-ppy
>--
>
>Adam Pease wrote Mon, 23 Feb 2004 11:41:49 -0800:
>>Peter,
>>   I agree that context is important.  But there's no agreed on solution 
>> for it, and we're not going to solve it here.  I'd venture to say we 
>> don't collectively have the background to even address the topic 
>> intelligently.  People have made careers out of working on this topic.
>>Most folks here don't even have a background in formal logic.  This is 
>>another topic, like so many others, that can only distract us from the 
>>practical task at hand, that doesn't need content in order to make 
>>concrete progress.
>>Adam
>
>>At 10:53 AM 2/23/2004 -0800, Peter Yim wrote:
>>
>>>Pat,
>>>
>>> >    What point of Adam's did you agree with?  Could you put it
>>> > in your own words?
>>>
>>>I agree with Adam that "physical" and "abstract" are exhaustive under 
>>>"entity" as represented in SUMO now. I also agree that "context" 
>>>constitutes a whole separate area that is being studied and pursued.
>>>
>>>I am neither agreeing nor disagreeing whether "context" belongs in SUMO. 
>>>I am, however, of the opinion that "whether or not" or "how" context 
>>>fits into a KIF based ontology (or into SUMO, in our case) is beyond the 
>>>scope of the ontolog-forum (and should belong to a SUMO-forum or 
>>>SUO-forum wherever they are.)
>>>
>>>I am not discounting the importance of the matter, though. In fact I am 
>>>positive that "context" will be a key area that needs to be addressed if 
>>>we really want to make a contribution to UBL and to the development of 
>>>business ontologies (I was among those who brought up the need for a 
>>>"context" driven example in our suite of use cases).
>>>
>>>I agree then, Pat, that framing it (the need for "context" in our 
>>>representation) in that context makes sense. Our situation is that:
>>>Pat suggested one possible solution. Adam disagreed, and cited some 
>>>relevant work.
>>>
>>>We all want (and need) to move the project forward. May I, then, suggest 
>>>that we don't pause our current attempt to formalize UBL v1.0, but to 
>>>start a new thread to discuss on how we want to deal with "context". I 
>>>am sure the discourse is going to be useful and interesting, but long 
>>>and drawn out ... Let's just make sure it does not break up our project work.
>>>
>>>I humbly solicit input from those of you who can throw some light onto 
>>>the matter. Try bringing in people who aren't already in the community 
>>>to help too.
>>>
>>>Fyi, ... I did a google on "guha mccarthy barwise situation calculus", 
>>>and it returned 279 hits (guha mccarthy situation calculus). A lot of 
>>>those hits will make interesting reading to some of us, like myself.
>>>
>>>Regards.  -ppy
>>>--
>>>
>>>Patrick Cassidy wrote Mon, 23 Feb 2004 01:00:03 -0500:
>>>
>>>>Peter --
>>>>   I'm a bit unclear as to what you mean by your note:
>>>>[PY]
>>>>  > Good point, Adam.
>>>>  >
>>>>  > May I suggest that discussions specific to Upper Ontology be considered
>>>>  > as being outside of our scope here. We should, predominantly, be 
>>>> dealing
>>>>  > in the "business" domian ontology. Is that ok with both of you,
>>>
>>> >  > Pat & Adam?
>>>
>>>>  >
>>>>  > Discussions like that should probably be done elsewhere, say, for
>>>>  > example, at the IEEE-SUO list.
>>>>  >
>>>
>>>
>>>>    What point of Adam's did you agree with?  Could you put it
>>>>in your own words?
>>>
>>>
>>>>    The additional content I have been suggesting is in most cases
>>>>*directly* related to the business Ontology, including the concept of
>>>>a "Context", which is used within the UBL specification.  More
>>>>detail will have to be added to "Context" to capture the different
>>>>types of business context that they feel are relevant.
>>>
>>>
>>>>    I will be quite happy to pursue discussions one-on-one
>>>>with anyone who has any questions, objections, or
>>>>suggestions for change in anything I have suggested.
>>>>However, I will simply ignore any suggestions to junk
>>>>everything and start all over, as Adam has recommended.
>>>
>>>
>>>>    I plan to suggest additional content as time permits,
>>>>and will be happy to discuss specifics about this content
>>>>in any forum.  I will also make, as I have already, comments
>>>>and suggestions about what others recommend.
>>>
>>>
>>>>    I have bent over backwards to avoid making any changes
>>>>in the existing SUMO/MILO, focusing on additions, with
>>>>only a few renamings where there was a logical error
>>>>(such as the use of "contract" in different senses)
>>>>or ambiguity was a threat.
>>>
>>>
>>>>    I have sent another note explaining why I think that
>>>>restricting additions of content from members (except
>>>>for logical inconsistency) is a really really **bad**
>>>>idea, and why addition of content only peripherally
>>>>related to the core business concepts can be helpful.
>>>>Whether or not a suggested business-related concept
>>>>captures the reality of business practice, or is
>>>>consistent with the UBL version, are important issues
>>>>for us.  Discussing whether a peripheral concept happens to
>>>>be essential at this particular time is likely to be a great
>>>>time-waster, with no possible objective resolution.
>>>
>>>
>>>>    Does anyone have any constructive comments on the
>>>>business concepts I have suggested?   Anyone?
>>>>    Pat
>>>>=============================================
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Adam Pease wrote Sat, 21 Feb 2004 08:26:09 -0800:
>>>
>>> > Pat,
>>> >
>>> >   In general, while of course it's fair to have new content that is
>>> > in progress, and only partially defined, you are suggesting very
>>> > substantial additions at a high level of the ontology.  The
>>> > standard must be quite different there.  If someone adds a new
>>> > class JoineryInvoice, and makes it a subclass of Invoice, no harm
>>> > done.  You have however proposed, among other things, adding a
>>> > new concept right at the top (under the top node of Entity),
>>> > called "Context", and then a whole new tree of concepts which
>>> > include Situation, Event etc.
>>>
>>> >   Now, people spend large parts of their research careers (John
>>> > McCarthy, Guha etc) working on context logic.  There are yearly
>>> > conferences on the topic.  Context usually involves a context logic
>>> > that is not first order.  And yet, you've inserted this notion
>>> > without definition.  In addition, since the first level concepts
>>> > of Physical and Abstract already form a partition (are exhaustive),
>>> > it's not even clear in the most basic sense what "Context" means,
>>> > nor how it would be used in inference, that in most prior
>>> > research has involved speculative reasoning facilities that
>>> > don't even exist yet.
>>>
>>> >   From there the problem just gets worse since you seem to be
>>> > proposing a whole new scheme for representing situations for SUMO.
>>> > Again, this is an area that has received a vast amount of research
>>> > effort, and you've provided only a taxonomy.  New content at this
>>> > level simply has to be justified with axioms even to be a coherent
>>> > proposal.  Otherwise we don't have any basis for a coherent
>>> > discussion about its merits.
>>> >
>>> > Adam
>>>---
>>>
>>>
>>> > At 12:56 AM 2/21/2004 -0500, Patrick Cassidy wrote:
>>> >
>>> >> Adam -
>>> >>   Thanks for your comment.  Since the issues you discuss
>>> >> are relevant to much of the work we will be doing, I am
>>> >> sending this reply to the whole Ontolog group. The bottom
>>> >> line of this message is that I think we need to vote
>>> >> on the issue, so I hope all Ontolog members will
>>> >> slog through this and provide their own feedback. ...[snip]...
>>>
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