[topicmapmail] Re: Logicians do not rule the world (fortunately)

[Lars Marius Garshol]

* Murray Altheim
>
> This statement can only be valid if there is a grounding in some
> form of logic that would make it true. Either the symmetry of a
> given statement must be made explicit (and the software tools
> that operate on that symmetry must be trained to read the explicit
> statement of symmetry and operate upon it accordingly),

The software tools that operate on that symmetry treat it as being  
symmetrical. They can't do anything else.

> Well, you can tell me that, and you can express that (i.e., write
> it down) in a Topic Map, but stating it in a Topic Map in such a
> way that can be reasoned upon by machines is an entirely different
> matter. If you want an even rudimentary reasoning engine to be
> able to connect the idea that
>
>   if    Norway borders-with Sweden
>   then  Sweden borders-with Norway
>
> then the symmetry of the 'borders-with' relation must be stated
> and the engine programmed to make that inference.

No, that's not necessary in Topic Maps, since there is no way in a  
topic map to distinguish the one statement from the other. They are  
one and the same.

--
Lars Marius Garshol, Ontopian               http://www.ontopia.net
+47 98 21 55 50                             http://www.garshol.priv.no