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Simon St.Laurent wrote:
> jonathan@openhealth.org (Jonathan Borden) writes:
> >You might find "ontologies" to be about this, but perhaps that is
> >because you are looking at "ontologies" with a limited viewpoint.
> >Granted there are project to build a standardized ontology of the
> >universe e.g. Cyc and SUO, but those particular projects are *hardly*
> >all that ontologies in general are about.
>
> I said I find "making claims of certainty about the universe [to be] a
> project I find unfortunate". That definitely puts the rhetoric around
> Cyc in the discard bin, but it seems more like a recognition of the
> limits of our understandings than a limited viewpoint in and of itself.
What I am saying is that you are not making -- what I consider -- a fair or
valid statement about ontologies *in general* as opposed to the above two
projects.
...
>
> If you want to spend your time developing ontologies in the privacy of
> your own house, you're quite welcome to do so. If people come on
> xml-dev and make claims that, for instance, ontologies are the right
> answer to vocabulary development for XML, they should not be surprised
> to encounter resistance from people who have other approaches.
>
For what I consider a significant class of problems, ontologies *are* the
right answer for vocabulary development for XML. (e.g., see:
http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn) When you write about
"ontologists" coming 'round xml-dev, I wonder who you are talking about? I
don't consider myself an "ontologist" though I'm involved with ontologies --
I don't know of any real ontologists who post regularly on xml-dev, though
perhaps there are a few who read it.
> Mathematicians and ontologists both frequently fetishize logic and think
> they're tapping into something grander than the rest of us can see. To
> the extent that such projects can avoid that and remain focused on the
> practical, I'm thrilled. I don't share their faith in logic or the
> excitement I see for pinning knowledge on virtual index cards.
I assume you are reading this on a computer, and so I find myself bemused at
your lack of enthusiasm. All practical computer projects in some sense are
based upon logic.
Jonathan
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