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   RE: [xml-dev] Beyond Ontologies

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Your post made me think of Google zeitgeist. I don't know if there is a
connection...

Semantics does change. OWL was never intended to do that I think...

But how could we model that? Google or other web crawler could detect that
Rummy World is becoming more important than in the last few days. But how
would we connect it to its meaning?

It's like if you query on your search engine something like I want to find a
job. Ideally, it would know my resume and gives me some jobs I'm suitable
for...

How could you model that?

It goes a lot further thant text categorization and IA symbolic reasonning.

Did I understand right what you're all saying?

-----Message d'origine-----
De : Roger L. Costello [mailto:costello@mitre.org]
Envoye : mardi 30 septembre 2003 11:09
A : xml-dev@lists.xml.org
Objet : Re: [xml-dev] Beyond Ontologies


Hi Folks,

There is a great discussion of this occurring on xml-dev.

>From what I have read, a characteristic of complex systems is that small
changes/differences are magnified.  They even have a name for this
characteristic - the Butterfly Effect

Butterfly Effect - a butterfly stirring the air today in Peking can
transform storm systems next month in New York.

Beta vs VHS

An example of the Butterfly Effect in the economy is shown with Beta
versus VHS videotapes.  A small difference in the initial user-base (in
favor of VHS) resulted in an avalanche of people purchasing VHS machines
(despite Beta being technically superior).  Thus, a small difference was
greatly magnified.

Rummy World

Mike Champion gave an excellent example of how new semantics can pop up
literally overnight:

> Here's an example: What/where is "Rummy World"?  The
> #2 hit on Google for that term already gets it right
> (Iraq).  I could probably construct a tortured line of
> "reasoning" to explain how this would fit into an
> ontology, but AFAIK Garry Trudeau
> [http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/2003/09/23/] just
> created it out of thin air because the idea that Sec.
> Rumsfeld and friends have created a terrorist
> playground in Iraq produced a mordantly funny image in
> his mind.

The introduction of this small Rummy World article on the Web was
quickly taken up and amplified.  The word Rummy World went from
obscurity to a world-wide term virtually overnight.  Again, small
initial conditions were greatly magnified.

Conclusions: the Web is a complex system.  Semantics changes.

Comments?  /Roger


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