Re: foundations of relational theory?

"Mike Preece" <michael_at_preece.net> wrote in message news:1b0b566c.0310221455.4a5e680e_at_posting.google.com...
> "Mikito Harakiri" <mikharakiri_at_iahu.com> wrote in message
news:<7Czlb.35$UP3.188_at_news.oracle.com>...
> [snip]
> >
> > Likewise, I believe that Pick database is not worth of my attention. It
has
> > no credible intellectuals backing it up, it's a tiny niche, its
> > mathematically noninteresting.
>
> That's interesting. What I consider to be a "credible intellectual"
> must differ from your set. Indeed, everyone must have their own set.
> My set is not fixed. I might well learn something today that will add
> someone to the list of intellectuals I consider to have credibility.
> Equally, I might learn something that shatters my belief in the
> credibility of someone I previously respected. Further, I might
> consider someone to have credibility in one field and not in others. I
> would not, for example, consider someone with no knowledge of - or
> interest in - a subject to be a credible authority on that subject.
> For example, I might consider Noam Chomsky or Carl Sagan to be
> credible intellectuals. If that's my full list, and I read everything
> they've ever written and been known to comment on, then would it be
> fair of me to conclude as a consequence that the Pick database is not
> worthy of my attention? or that (dare I say it?) "Mikito Harakiri" is
> not worth my attention? or any number of other inappropriate
> conclusions? Similarly, if my list includes people with a great
> knowledge of SQL-relational databases who also know little if anything
> (and don't want to know anything) about Pick databases, would it be
> fair to draw the same conclusion? There's obviously something wrong
> here don't you think? Do the math.

Yes, I certainly can learn something that might shatter my believe in worthlessness of Pick databases. But let's get the priorities straight: I'm not going to spend any time learning Pick database in a foreseeable future. The world is full of cranks, and studying all the crazy theories and listening to all the noise on the usenet is simply a wrong strategy. Therefore, my judgement is reduced to just a belief, but that's the best one can do. Received on Thu Oct 23 2003 - 01:17:24 CEST