Re: [ontolog-forum] Data, Silos, Interoperability, and Agility

[John F Sowa <sowa@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 9/26/2013 7:18 AM, Kingsley Idehen wrote:
> Times have changed because we now have ubiquitous document
> and data networks for the masses.    (01)

Yes, times have changed.  But the fundamental principles have not.    (02)

> This makes a big difference. Construction, publication, and
> consumption of data is much easier.    (03)

Yes.  Those developments make certain applications practical that were
only imagined 40 years ago.  We can expect developments in the next 40
years that will be at least as revolutionary or more so.    (04)

But we can also expect principles of good design that have stood the
test of time for 40 years or more to remain good principles 40 years
from now.    (05)

Aristotle's syllogisms from 2300 years ago are still the most widely
used subset of OWL.  And Aristotle's notation is still easier to teach,
learn, and use than much of the new stuff.    (06)

The basic operators of FOL are embedded in all the major languages
of the world:  and, or, not, if, some, every.  Language forms based
on them are easy for people to learn and use.    (07)

LISP was a good way to implement lists in 1955.  That encoding is
still widely used today.  And LISP-like notations such as JSON
have better human factors than certain others that were proposed.    (08)

Type hierarchies from at least 200 AD (probably earlier) are still
good ways of showing ontologies.  Bachman diagrams from the 1960s
are still good ways of showing the argument types of relations
and their cardinality restrictions -- i.e., E-R diagrams.    (09)

It's essential to learn from the successful systems of the past
and discover what properties made them successful.    (010)

Chief characteristic of legacy software:  Too good to discard.    (011)

John    (012)

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