On Sunday 16 September 2007 16:32, Mills Davis wrote:
> Randall,
>
> ...
>
> 3. But, another issue that is nagging me is concerns the advantages
> of logical symmetry and sequence neutrality. Why is a processing
> distinction made between forward and backward axioms? Wouldn't the
> impact of all possible informational variables be (pre)computable at
> the time the backward/forward axiom was formulated? I guess what I'm
> probing is the notion of symmetry of expression. If we view
> knowledge as a constraint space of conditional and unconditional
> expressions (rational paths) containing both dependent and
> independent variables, then isn't it possible to reason over the same
> mesh by changing what we consider independent and dependent, and thus
> address different types of questions? For example, I see this idea
> coming up recently in the discussion of "continuous search" and
> "perpetual analytics.." (01)
The burden of deciding whether pre-computed consequences are
advantageous is placed upon the knowledge engineer. Surely it would be
better to have the system make that determination, but at this point
(*), that is not a practical, feasible or possible computation. (02)
In essence, this is a pragmatic distinction that Cyc foists upon the
knowledge engineer. (03)
However, a key fact to keep in mind is that the "forward" vs. "backward"
distinction does not influence the inferential capabilities of Cyc nor
the logic it implements (**). It is purely a performance issue. (In
fact, a classic space vs. time tradeoff.) (04)
(*) I have not used Cyc since about 2001. I cannot actually represent
this as the current state of affairs in the Cyc knowledge
representation and inference system in 2007. (05)
(**) Whatever that may be... (06)
As a software engineer, this is a reasonable approach to practical
system optimization. As a knowledge engineer, it's an unwanted
intrusion of the implementation realm into the knowledge representation
realm. (07)
> Mills (08)
Randall Schulz (09)
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