Re: [xml-dev] Lessons learned from the XML experiment

["Simon St.Laurent" <simonstl@simonstl.com>]

On 11/14/13 9:07 AM, Timothy W. Cook wrote:
> I must agree with Hans-Juergen.
>
> I have no idea what kind of 'junk' gets passed around in the
> publishing world.  But XML DOES provide the ability to be very
> specific about data.  Maybe it is too forgiving and allows too much
> optionality.
>
> I have no idea why all the 'yikes' comments followed his comment.
It's easy: I've learned over the years that people who believe in 
certainty, especially those who believe that they can communicate 
certainty, are dangerous.

Something goes deeply wrong when people assume that it is possible to 
know things precisely, to name things precisely, and to communicate 
things precisely.  (I'll grant that claims of precision are slightly 
less dangerous than claims of accuracy.)

I sometimes call it naive positivism, but there are other philosophical 
schools that lead to the same sad place.  Computers, of course, 
encourage such delusions, but that is largely because they know so 
little about the world.

Uche is extra-right about URIs, of course, a corner that painfully 
demonstrates these limitations again and again.

Thanks,
--
Simon St.Laurent
http://simonstl.com/