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Re: [ontolog-forum] Next steps in using ontologies as standards

To: Patrick Cassidy <pat@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "'[ontolog-forum] '" <ontolog-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
From: Ed Barkmeyer <edbark@xxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:59:39 -0500
Message-id: <49639C0B.4070105@xxxxxxxx>
Patrick Cassidy wrote:    (01)

>    Your gut skepticism is not surprising, but I tried hard to find some
> objective criticism of the proposal in your response, and couldn't.      (02)

Interesting.  I need to write more clearly.  Have you looked at the 
collection of biological ontologies in Mark Musen's Bioportal?  How many 
different models of human anatomy did you see?  Why is there not one 
consistent model?  And what is the secret formula for removing that 
obstacle?    (03)

Ask Steve Hobbs about the effort to develop OWLTime, which is a very 
"small" fundamental ontology in your vast undertaking.  They had to 
choose among three competing models of time, after giving up on usefully 
reconciling them.  Pat Hayes' paper documents the fundamentally 
different axiomatic approaches.  According to you, a well-funded 
community of great minds will find one model they can all agree on. 
What makes you think so?    (04)

My gut skepticism is based on published experience.  My apologies for 
failing to mention more than the biological work and the conflicting 
standard upper ontologies.  With a bit of effort, I can find a few 
others.  But my mathematical training tells me one counterexample 
disproves a theorem.    (05)

What evidence is your unbridled optimism based on?    (06)

-Ed    (07)

-- 
Edward J. Barkmeyer                        Email: edbark@xxxxxxxx
National Institute of Standards & Technology
Manufacturing Systems Integration Division
100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8263                Tel: +1 301-975-3528
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8263                FAX: +1 301-975-4694    (08)

"The opinions expressed above do not reflect consensus of NIST,
  and have not been reviewed by any Government authority."    (09)

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