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Re: [ontolog-forum] LInked Data meme revisited

To: "'[ontolog-forum] '" <ontolog-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
From: "Rich Cooper" <rich@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2013 14:08:51 -0800
Message-id: <39A67AFE7A4D45C7A245ACCA05933A76@Gateway>

Ed B. wrote:

 

This whole discussion suggests that this readership has significant disagreements about the interpretation of some of the 'names' ('terms') we are using in discussing the issue.

 

Yes, but the very depth and length of those disagreements indicates that we should generalize more; users (not just us) vary in their attraction to words.  Then generalize just a little further and we can conclude: users (not just us) vary in their attraction to rules.  The result is that users vary in which ontologies, or components thereof, they find attractive or repugnant. 

 

-Rich

 

P.S.  I love your quote from John Day

 

"A picture is worth 1000 words, but it takes 10,000 words to

recover from the 500 words that you didn't mean but people saw in the picture."

 

That very well summarizes the phenomenon that makes people vary over ontologies. 

 

-Rich

 

Sincerely,

Rich Cooper

EnglishLogicKernel.com

Rich AT EnglishLogicKernel DOT com

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

 

-----Original Message-----
From: ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Barkmeyer, Edward J
Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2013 1:51 PM
To: [ontolog-forum]
Subject: Re: [ontolog-forum] LInked Data meme revisited

 

Kingsley Idehen wrote:

 

>

> As they say, a picture speaks a thousand words; thus, I created illustrations of

> what I am referring to with regards to relations, participating entities, and

> denotation using different types of identifiers (Words or HTTP URIs) [1][2].

 

I am reminded of a memorable quote from John Day, then of Digital Equipment Corporation, and one of the principals in the development of the ISO Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Model (1978ff):

 

"A picture is worth 1000 words, but it takes 10,000 words to

recover from the 500 words that you didn't mean but people saw in

the picture."

 

Not to quibble about Kingsley's diagrams, I think they create as many questions as they answer.  I have learned to ask those questions, rather than assume certain answers, but others are doing that part.

 

>

> This is about inscription on a surface e.g., a Web document or a piece of

> paper. I the inscriber has to give names to things as part of the sentence

> construction process. My names may collide with others, but such collisions

> can be reduced by the denotation mechanism I choose.

 

But the names you give to those things may not help your readers understand your intent, unless there is a 'speech community' that shares those denotations -- they have to agree that your identifier refers to that thing.  It is common that the overall readership of interest will share some part of your understanding of that denotation, but have not considered, or just disagree with, some other part of your understanding.  As someone else pointed out earlier, humans are good at muddling through with a certain amount of mismatch in their name-to-things associations, but there is some threshold at which that mismatch interferes with the intended communication.  This whole discussion suggests that this readership has significant disagreements about the interpretation of some of the 'names' ('terms') we are using in discussing the issue.

 

-Ed

 

>

> Links:

>

> [1] http://bit.ly/18D29GZ -- relations where participating entities are denoted

> using HTTP URIs.

> [2] http://bit.ly/18UzaRG -- relations where the participating entities are

> denoted using .

> [3] http://bit.ly/WAJGCp -- how and why HTTP URI based global identifiers

> work for the Web medium.

> [4] http://bit.ly/15tk1Au -- HTTP URI duality and denotation as exploited in

> the Linked Data realm.

>

> Kingsley

> >

> > -----Original Message-----

> > From: ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

> > [mailto:ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Kingsley

> > Idehen

> > Sent: 11 December 2013 15:07

> > To: ontolog-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

> > Subject: Re: [ontolog-forum] LInked Data meme revisited

> >

> > On 12/11/13 8:39 AM, Matthew West wrote:

> >> Dear Kingsley,

> >> I think you are missing the point I am trying to make.

> >> Words typically have multiple meanings, indeed just one meaning is

> >> rather unusual.

> > I am not inferring that Words have a single meaning. I am implying

> > that Words and Phrases denote things (entities). That's it.

> >

> > "Kingsley Idehen" (a phrase comprised of two words) as the value of a

> > <#name> relation claims the existence (in the claim makers mind-eye)

> > of a foaf:Person entity type associated with the literals "Kingsley Idehen" :

> >

> > [] <#name> "Kingsley Idehen" ;

> >      <#type> foaf:Person.

> >

> > As far as I know every participant in a relation is denoted by some

> > kind of identifier. Words and Phrases are identifiers, as far as I know.

> >

> >

> >> So you need a way to pick out which meaning you mean this time when

> >> you are using it, especially when it is out of context.

> > It isn't out of context. My post is about Linked Data  where the

> > context is all about HTTP URIs and entity denotation.

> >

> >> A term has a single defined meaning within a defined context, so you

> >> have some chance of knowing where you are. A good way to distinguish

> >> between different possible meanings of a word is to add words to your

> >> term to provide disambiguation.

> > That isn't what I am trying to convey in my post. My post, as stated

> > above is simply about entity denotation patterns across two realms:

> >

> > 1. World Wide Web

> > 2. The real-world (as some may call it) which isn't the World Wide Web

> > where things are denoted using Words and Phrases.

> >

> > Kingsley

> >> Regards

> >> Matthew

> >>

> >> -----Original Message-----

> >> From: ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

> >> [mailto:ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Kingsley

> > Idehen

> >> Sent: 11 December 2013 13:12

> >> To: ontolog-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

> >> Subject: Re: [ontolog-forum] LInked Data meme revisited

> >>

> >> On 12/11/13 7:20 AM, Matthew West wrote:

> >>> On 12/11/13 3:15 AM, Matthew West wrote:

> >>>>> Dear Kingsley,

> >>>>> I would say "term of one or more words" where you have used

> "word".

> >>>>> Regards

> >>>>> Matthew

> >>> Please provide an excerpt from the post to which your suggestion

> applies.

> >>> [MW>] You wrote on Google Plus (link in your post below) The

> >>> connection between "Words" and HTTP URIs (which are different kinds

> >>> of

> >>> identifiers) is often lost or overlooked when attempting to

> >>> understand the principles outlined in +Tim Berners-Lee's original

> >>> Linked Data meme. In this post, I am going express the essence of

> >>> the meme using using "hyperlinked words" to aid comprehension.

> >> Thanks!

> >>

> >> Changed to:

> >> The connection between words, phrases, and HTTP URIs (which are all

> >> different *kinds* of identifiers) is often lost or overlooked when

> >> attempting to understand the principles outlined in Tim Berners-Lee's

> >> original Linked Data meme.

> >>

> >

>

>

> --

>

> Regards,

>

> Kingsley Idehen

> Founder & CEO

> OpenLink Software

> Company Web: http://www.openlinksw.com

> Personal Weblog: http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen

> Twitter Profile: https://twitter.com/kidehen

> Google+ Profile: https://plus.google.com/+KingsleyIdehen/about

> LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kidehen

>

>

>

>

 

 

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