On Tue, 1 Feb 2011, Pat Hayes wrote:
> Agree. And to rub some salt in, a piece of information which is completely
>unambiguous and fully understood when it is created can *become* ambiguous and
>in need of clarification later, by virtue of new distinctions being created or
>discovered, or simply imposed by some ontological fiat. A better survey can
>re-define the edges of a real property. A scientific discovery can reveal that
>a single element is actually a mixture of isotopes. When the organization
>adopts OBO, suddenly you have to decide if your favorite Auntie is a
>continuant or an occurrent. To seek to get final, absolute clarity is a
>sisyphean enterprise.
Witness the recent discovery that the African elephant is in fact two
species:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12054343 (01)
Think of all the re-classification that "needs" to be done!
James (02)
_________________________________________________________________
Msg Archives: http://ontolog.cim3.net/forum/ontology-summit/
Subscribe/Config: http://ontolog.cim3.net/mailman/listinfo/ontology-summit/
Unsubscribe: mailto:ontology-summit-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Community Files: http://ontolog.cim3.net/file/work/OntologySummit2011/
Community Wiki: http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?OntologySummit2011
Community Portal: http://ontolog.cim3.net/wiki/ (03)
|