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

To: "'[ontolog-forum] '" <ontolog-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
From: "Rich Cooper" <rich@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2011 09:50:42 -0800
Message-id: <20110312175044.6E4C2138D06@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi Adrian,

 

Well stated!  The value of a CNL tool will be how well it fits a wide variety of situations with its descriptions, how succinct and appropriate it is to expressing truths that the DEs want to record, and how readable it is for non DEs.  

 

Using an open vocabulary and wide syntactic coverage, you may be able to build something that can be the component of many systems.  

 

Do you have a version rugged enough to use in real applications?  If so, do you license it?  Is there an API for an interpreter that can resolve the semantics in terms of the problem at hand?  I could be interested if the quality is high enough, and the license fees reasonable enough, though I understand that is a very tall order.  

 

-Rich

 

Sincerely,

Rich Cooper

EnglishLogicKernel.com

Rich AT EnglishLogicKernel DOT com

9 4 9 \ 5 2 5 - 5 7 1 2


From: ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Adrian Walker
Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2011 9:15 AM
To: [ontolog-forum]
Subject: Re: [ontolog-forum] Fwd: Re: Using controlled natural languages forontology

 

Hi John,

You wrote:

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.


We can indeed provide such a tool, and the English can optionally be open, rather than controlled vocabulary. 

In Executable English [1], you get:

 *  INPUT   documentation=implementation
       (You can control the English, but you don't have to)

 *  OUTPUT   English explanations of the computations.


Best regards,  -- Adrian

     -------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] Internet Business Logic
A Wiki and SOA Endpoint for Executable Open Vocabulary English Q/A over SQL and RDF
Online at www.reengineeringllc.com   
Shared use is free, and there are no advertisements

Adrian Walker
Reengineering
 

On Sat, Mar 12, 2011 at 10:33 AM, John F. Sowa <sowa@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

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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