RE: First Order Logic and Semantic Web RE: NPR, Godel, Semantic W eb

["Bullard, Claude L (Len)" <clbullar@ingr.com>]

Google doesn't answer questions.  It returns hits.

A knowledge base answers questions.  How credible 
are the answers?  That is when authority, legitimacy, 
etc. begin to be issues.

<assert>Jeb is having an affair</assert>  
Ok, what can he say about that assertion?  

"No!!!" 

What can he do about the existence of the 
assertions?  Not much.
 
Neither could Clinton.  Let's 
launch a multi-million dollar 
investigation due to conclude just 
before the next election.

Force has limits one hopes.

In the wide open case where 
relevancy ranking, thesauri, etc. 
are applied to searching such as 
Google, expect gaming.  In the 
business models where high dollar 
transactions depend on the quality 
of the information, expect costs 
and closed systems with limited 
access.

Where kids, crazies, zealots, and 
so on are building knowledge bases, 
expect tests and the occasional 
knock on the door.

Anyway, it is a question of cost 
and ROI.  Anyone can put up a web 
page. A knowledge base will require 
skill.  Can it be gamed?  Certainly. 
Will that matter?  It depends.  

How exchange affects results depends 
on goals.   Some are met, some are 
not and some are of questionable value. 

I don't fear the SW.

I fear people who can't tell the difference 
between a person's opinion and a machine's opinion 
or think that either has facts believable out 
of context.  Whatever the SW is or is supposed 
to become, it ain't magic.

Len 
http://www.mp3.com/LenBullard

Ekam sat.h, Vipraah bahudhaa vadanti.
Daamyata. Datta. Dayadhvam.h


-----Original Message-----
From: Danny Ayers [mailto:danny@panlanka.net]

>> Len's postulate that SW can only operate in narrowly scoped domains with
>> clear authority seems a logical conclusion.

Was that Len's postulate? Anyway, where does Google get its clear authority
from? Or does it have a narrowly scoped domain?

Ok, most current e-business fits the narrow/clear model, but isn't it a bit
early to assume that business will continue using a mirror of the non-e
paradigm? Personally I'd guess that before long we'll be seeing a lot of
relatively unscoped material with negligible authority - not unlike the
first waves of static web sites.