[iDC] please make comments regarding semantic overlay term

[Sandy Klausner]

Alexis,

"Learn to program" is currently a very tough task for most humans.  
Improving the manner in which both structures and behaviors are  
conceived, maintained and shared would enable a much larger  
population to get control of the data in which they "push" or "pull."  
Doing this under the W3C stack is difficult and not really scalable  
to the full potential for a Semantic Web or what I believe will  
become the Semantic Net.

Sandy




On Mar 17, 2008, at 8:43 AM, subbies at redheadedstepchild.org wrote:

Sigh.  I'm no disciple of anyone but myself, thanks.

As for "the point is that interpretation by a human in context is where
meaning is defined" - I would completely agree with this, which is
precisely why I think you're tilting at windmills.  In spite of that
pretty statement you made, the ROOT of your argument is in fact a
complaint that machines are not currently capable of human nuance, that
they are not able to glean meaning from data.

To glean meaning is not the purpose of machines.  To glean meaning is  
the
purpose of humans.  The purpose of machines is to assist humans with  
tasks
that are too herculean for them to complete unaided.  Given the vast
amount of data presented to us, interpreting it all, unaided, in its  
naked
glory, is quite impossible.  To that end, machines are needed to sift.
But they are not, nor should they be, employed to derive meaning from  
the
data.  The only way that would be possible is if AI were a reality,  
which,
currently, it is not.

Your statement that machines will push information to us like TV is
ludicrous.  We have no control over what the television gives us beyond
changing the pre-programmed channel.  We do, however, have the  
ability to
program computers using whatever algorithm we feel is most meaningful  
and
most able to send us the information we want.  Perhaps you are mad  
because
the other people are not doing it for you in the way you most  
desire.  In
which case I say learn to program.  You are only as much a slave to the
W3C as you allow yourself to be.
-Alexis

+ --------
    redheadedstepchild.org
         ------- +

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008, Paul Prueitt wrote:

::Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:50:49 -0500
::From: Paul Prueitt <psp at ontologystream.com>
::To: subbies at redheadedstepchild.org
::Cc: Sandy Klausner <klausner at coretalk.net>, idc at mailman.thing.net,
::    susan.turnbull at gsa.gov
::Subject: Re: [iDC] please make comments regarding semantic overlay  
term
::
::
::On Mar 17, 2008, at 7:49 AM, subbies at redheadedstepchild.org wrote:
::
::>  Semantic standards are not designed
::> to aid humans in understanding the data that passes across the  
web - they
::> are designed to assist machines in parsing the data and  
delivering it to
::> humans.
::
::
::Oh my.   So in the near future we will be the receivers of massive  
amounts of
::data, that the system pushes on us; but which is not organized to be
::meaningful to us.
::
::Hummm.. sounds like we already have that, it is called TV.  The  
Internet could
::be and is more.  The potential is for true social networking driven  
by a
::demand economy.  The demand side is what we do not now have fully  
operational.
::Balance balance balance.   Supply side by itself is ruining  
American, and the
::world.
::
::There is an organization to the ads and the TV programming, and  
there is value
::sometimes; but mostly this just feeds the addiction that is wasting  
the Earth,
::its resources and its people in the pursuit of consumption.
::
::The point is that interpretation by a human in context is where  
meaning is
::defined; unless you are one of the disciples of the Current Church  
of IT
::(CCIT) Incorporated.
::
::
::
::
::
::
::
::
::