Re: [ontolog-forum] Fwd: Re: Using controlled natural languages for onto

[Pavithra <pavithra_kenjige@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dr. Sowa,

About Ramanujan ability to solve the mathematical problems rather than explain it..     May be he was special like Shakunthala Devi.  She can give an answer faster than a calculator without writing it down..  Universities invite her and students can ask her any mathematical questions and she provides accurate answers.   Generally we asked large multiplication or factorial kind of questions..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakuntala_Devi

Other reason is memorization.  In some Indian elementary schools teach children to memorize mathematical tables at a young age like songs.   By the time kids are in 4th grade,  they learn  to tell you any addition, multiplication and deivision up to  20..     for example  many 10 years olds( who like math  will tell you  19x18  = 342 as easily as  2+ 2 = 4 because of that teaching method...  
People do that with Poetry, phrases, and languages, spellings.   India teaching techniques included math and science for memorizing too..

Other reason could be, India has had advanced languages from ancient days.   Mathematics is taught in other languages, even though the equations look the same.   It is hard to translate the pattern and notations and methods to another language and explain, because of language oriented mockery ..

Then there are people just meditate and get  answers in the mind.. ( This is what they were trying to say about Ramanujan..) .  Indian Veda and Upanishads and scripts have a lot of scientific and mathematical concepts, but they are religious prayers and have to study in fromt of God's statue or photo etc.. That is how  one attain mental focus or concentration for clarity..
It is all ancient practice and have had good results..   Such people are considered Guru;s and  thier works are incorporated as part of Vedas an Upanishads and scriptures.  These are written knowledge compositions.  ( Veda means knowledge) ..recording of the anceint  scientific methods taught in the name of god..

I do believe that deep meditation helps to attain a mental concentration, and mind does work  faster to find solutions.

It is like Watson,  it gives answers and does n' tell you how.. like your mind.













--- On Sat, 3/12/11, John F. Sowa <sowa@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

From: John F. Sowa <sowa@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [ontolog-forum] Fwd: Re: Using controlled natural languages for ontology
To: "[ontolog-forum]" <ontolog-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Saturday, March 12, 2011, 10:33 AM

Sorry, I hit the send button too soon.

On 3/12/2011 8:32 AM, John Bottoms wrote:
> I have always been amazed at how much of technical work is
> done orally. I have been on $b+ projects in which the design
> specifications were "explained".

That is an unfortunate truth, which requires strong management
discipline to overcome.  But better tools can help.  My basic
principle is very simple:

    The best way to get people to be virtuous is
    to make virtue the path of least resistance.

For example, if we can provide tools that gather the documentation
during the implementation, we can ensure that they are always in sync.
That is why controlled natural languages for *output* can often be
far more important than CNLs for input.

On 3/12/2011 9:54 AM, David Eddy wrote:
> Core truth:  "If it isn't written down, it didn't happen."
>
> Corollary:  How you got to the answer is far more important than
> the actual answer.

Both statements have some truth in them, but the amount of qualification
is enormous.

Re Ramanujan:  It was a slip of the typing when I said that he was
always right.  He did make occasional errors.

But the basic point is that there are many people like that, who are
highly skilled at what they do, but they can't explain what they do.
It would be foolish to waste their talents.

In fact, Ramanujan's talents were almost wasted.  Some of his early
teachers couldn't understand what he was doing, but some recognized
his extraordinary talent.  They managed to get him a scholarship
to the university.  In mathematics, R. was by far the best student,
and he was more brilliant than his teachers.  His math scores were
too high to measure.

But R. failed his other subjects in which he had no interest, and he
lost his scholarship.  As a result, he had to work as a clerk while
taking some part-time studies -- and mostly his own thoughts
without anybody to discuss them with.

If the system had been more flexible, he might have had the training
that could enable him to explain himself more clearly.

Summary:  Different people have different talents, and we need
flexible systems that can benefit from a wide variety of skills.

John

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