> >
> > The bio-ontologists currently developing the phenotype and other
> > ontologies have addressed this question in detail. Their earlier
> > attempts led to what I propose calling the 'Peanut Butter Sandwich'
> > problem. If you have Attributes (Color) and Values (Red), then for
> > some attributes (e.g. Height) you will infinitely many values, and
> > for other attributes (e.g. Eats) you will have uncontrollably many
> > made-up values (e.g. Peanut Butter Sandwich with McDonald's Chicken
> > Fajita Sauce and a Pickle).
>
>MW: This looks a lot like a Bill of Materials to me. (01)
When biologists study the eating habbits of, say, bacteria, they do
not first check the Bill of Materials printed by Bacteria Central
Administration that morning. (02)
> >
> > The solution they are working on is to drop the whole notion of
> > Values. Rather, there are determinable attributes (Color) and
> > determinate attributes (Red). Attributes are not relations between
> > bearers and values. Rather, every single attribute instance, for
> > instance the color of Rudolf's nose, instantiates a series of
> > attribute types at greater and lesser levels of granularity.
>
>MW: Do you mean here that (your) redness of Rudolphs nose is an instance
>of a set of varying and usually widening spectrum ranges? i.e. you are
>dealing with the issue of accuracy/precision? (03)
Sets do not have instances. Types have instances.
We represent these instances using various means, e.g. English words
('red', 'bright red') or hexadecimal numbers, or what you will.
Sometimes our representations are more precise, sometimes less. They
may still all be correct (as it may be equally correct to say:
'animal over there', or 'cat at fifty paces').
> >
> > This still leaves open the problem of Height. Here the solution is
> > along the lines of accepting Height as a determinable attribute, with
> >
> > Height-of-2-Meters
> > Height-of-1.9-Meters
> >
> > etc.
> >
> > as determinates. In any given domain of biological inquiry, there is
> > a finite number of such relevant determinates.
>
>MW: Are there not an infinite number of heights between Height-of-1.9-Meters
>and Height-of-1.9-Meters? Or are you saying that we are only interested in
>the values at 1mm distances between these?
>
>MW: This still seems somewhat simplistic for engineering purposes.
There is infinite complexity everywhere. I am sure your Oil ontology
can capture it all.
BS (04)
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