On Wed, July 6, 2011 14:38, AzamatAbdoullaev said:
> John wrote
>> "And a warning: Unless you can find an immutable law of nature
>> that creates a classification, don't expect it to be a solid
>> foundation for a "standard ontology". (01)
> Agree. Here are five methodogical rules from the standard ontology:
> 1. Class is determined by a single property; (02)
This definition would block many subclasses, unless the property
is defined as membership in the class. (03)
> 2. Kind is determined by a set of properties; (04)
Is this a useful distinction? (05)
> 3. Natural Kind is determined by a set of lawfully related properties
> (laws);
> 4. Natural Genus is the set of things sharing a basic law; (06)
I haven't heard this term except in the context of Linneaen taxonomy. (07)
> 5. Natural Species is the set of things sharing a particular law. (08)
The term has a useful meaning in biology; but what is its use otherwise? (09)
> Many classifications are mostly at the level one, like the five
> classifications for natural resources, such as land, water, soils, plants,
> animals, solar power, etc, divided by a single property: origin;
> renewability, availability, development stage or distribution scope. (010)
There are many gradations of wetlands reaching from soggy ground to
standing shallow water. A rigid division between land and water is quite
arbitrary. Fungi used to be classified as plants, but now they are a
different kingdom. (011)
> A more
> scientific understanding of resources is asking for reaching higher
> levels. (012)
Even at this level there are difficulties. (013)
-- doug foxvog (014)
> Azamat Abdoullaev
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John F. Sowa" <sowa@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "[ontolog-forum]" <ontolog-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 06, 2011 7:45 PM
> Subject: [ontolog-forum] Why most classifications are fuzzy
>
>
>> This forum has been quiet for a while, and I'd like to stir the pot
>> with a controversial issue.
>>
>> Two widely known rigid classifications established a paradigm,
>> which some people mistakenly consider the norm: the periodic
>> table in chemistry and the Linneaen taxonomy of living things.
>> But the rigid boundaries of those categories are the result of
>> underlying laws of nature that explain why intermediate cases are
>> impossible (periodic table) and rare (taxonomy of species).
>>
>> For physics and chemistry, quantum mechanics implies discrete steps,
>> which create discrete classifications of elementary particles.
>> At the next level up, it also implies discrete combinations of
>> such particles -- combinations of quarks to form baryons (protons
>> and neutrons) and combinations of atoms to form molecules.
>>
>> For biology, discrete molecular operations support the stable
>> molecules needed for life and the mechanisms for replicating the
>> huge molecules needed for DNA. But those mechanisms are only
>> weakly stable -- that leads to random mutations.
>>
>> For the next level up, natural selection creates fuzzy boundaries
>> among interbreeding populations, but crisp boundaries between
>> isolated populations. For example, look at the sharp distinction
>> between foxes and wolves, but fuzzy boundaries among dogs. When
>> humans allow dogs to "do their own thing", the breeds quickly
>> revert to a generic ur-dog -- which is usually healthier and
>> more robust than many breeds.
>>
>> Some biological classifications are not based on DNA. Examples
>> are trees and berries. For example, the family Rosaceae includes
>> rose bushes, apple trees, and raspberries. Biologically, all
>> berries are fruit, but apples are more likely to be grouped with
>> oranges as "typical" fruit than with raspberries.
>>
>> By height and woodiness, an apple tree is more likely to be
>> classified with a remotely related spruce tree than with
>> a rose bush. And many evergreens become bushes or trees
>> at the whim of some human with a pair of shears.
>>
>> There is even a debate in India whether bamboo should be
>> classified as grass or tree: "Recently there was a controversy
>> when the union ministry of environment and forests asked states
>> across India to recognise bamboo as a minor forest produce."
>>
>> See http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Bamboo
>>
>> In general, what makes any classification rigid is some *law*,
>> which could be a law of nature or some human rule. Since it's
>> a lot easier to change human laws, such classifications are
>> likely to change with culture, technology, or fads.
>>
>> Summary: Fuzzy boundaries are the norm in most classifications.
>> Whenever a boundary seems to be sharp, look for some axiom, law,
>> principle, or convention that creates the distinction. Those
>> laws are more fundamental than any grouping by "similarity".
>>
>> And a warning: Unless you can find an immutable law of nature
>> that creates a classification, don't expect it to be a solid
>> foundation for a "standard ontology".
>>
>> John Sowa
>>
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"I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great
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