Thanks Phil.
I'm exploring how type theory works at doing partial classifications,
especially where there can be arbitrary models on the same object. I'm not
sure that it does and I'm of the opinion that in these cases, type systems
aren't really that useful.
Ganesha is surgically grafted elephant.. Only his head is because it got
cut off and they stuck an elephants head on him.... Then we can have undead
elephants. I would still call it an elephant.. But is it even alive?
On Friday, December 20, 2013, Dennis Haupt wrote:
> in my mental world, there is a "pure human", and a 4 armed human would
> probably be a 95% human or something, just like a hobbit would be. the
> other way round, a human would be a "95% hobbit". an elephant would be 4%
> hobbit on that scale.
> this model is flexible, covers everything, and is not really helpful when
> you ask "what is it?" you have to ask "is this at least 90% cat?"
>
>
> 2013/12/20 Phillip Lord <phillip.l...@newcastle.ac.uk <javascript:_e({},
> 'cvml', 'phillip.l...@newcastle.ac.uk');>>
>
>> zcaudate <z...@caudate.me <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', 'z...@caudate.me');>>
>> writes:
>> > @philip lord.
>> >
>> > Where would mutant elephants and the elephant god Ganesha fit in that
>> classification?
>>
>>
>> It might surprise you to know that there is actually quite a lot work on
>> both of these.
>>
>> The problem with mutant elephants generalises into the problem with
>> abnormalities; for example, if I build a model of a human which says,
>> "humans have two hands, and two legs" then there are plenty of counter
>> examples, having more or less than two hands (mostly less). If, on the
>> other hand, you have a model which can cope with these exceptions, then
>> it gets too complex to handle, and you can rarely conclude anything
>> useful.
>>
>> Ganesha causes a different problem: that is does he exist at all, and if
>> he does, is he an elephant. Now there are those who say no he isn't, so
>> he shouldn't be in the model. And, there are those (like me) who say,
>> well it depends on your application and what you are trying to achieve.
>>
>> Farcical as all of this sounds, it does actually have implications for
>> the way that we build data models, particularly for biology and
>> medicine. If you are interested, you can read my paper on the subject
>> here:
>>
>> http://www.russet.org.uk/blog/1713
>>
>> And a companion article by my co-author. It's about unicorns, but most
>> of it probably covers Ganesha also.
>>
>>
>> http://robertdavidstevens.wordpress.com/2011/05/26/unicorns-in-my-ontology/
>>
>> Phil
>>
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