Re: SUO: Re: SUO -- Technical Methodology
On the issue of if and when voting is
a "good thing":
John F. Sowa wrote:
>
> Erik,
>
> There is no need to vote, when there is a much
> simpler way to accommodate the options.
>
> > What I suggest is that the group forces a vote on
> > important definitions, such as that of "Event."
>
> The way that lexicographers develop their definitions
> is to gather citations of actual uses of the words.
> If there are multiple word senses, they record all of
> them, organize them, and show their relationships.
>
In our "standard" ontology there will be cases where
alternatives will be logically inconsistent. We
can and will accommodate at least some of the logically
inconsistent alternatives within our subsumption hierarchy
or lattice of theories. But in cases where there seems
to be a dominant view and a minority view, I think
it is important to determine what the balance of sentiment
is, and to convey that information to potential users of
the SUO. I think a vote is the most objective method
to do that. A vote within a working group is not the
same as a formal vote of the whole committee, and can
be a lot less formal and quicker. It will nevertheless
help guide us in deciding how alternatives should
be accommodated.
As a user of other standards which I have had no
voice in creating, I am sure that if I were presented with
a list of alternatives that had an astronomical number
of combinatorial possibilities, I would rapidly go nuts
trying to decide which to use. It is our job to evaluate
the choices and convey the evaluations in some manner.
We really need to provide users with some guidance on
"default" or "preferred" or "most common" usage so
that those who merely wish to interoperate with as
many systems as possible can find and use the most
popular representations.
Don't most (all?) standards bodies take votes at
intermediate stages to finalize some decisions and get on
with other issues?
Pat
=============================================
Patrick Cassidy
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735 Belvidere Ave. || (908) 668-5252 (if no answer)
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internet: cassidy@micra.com
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