Re: In an RDBMS, what does "Data" mean?
Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 13:54:33 +0100
Message-ID: <1vLKA7AJ20rAFwm2_at_thewolery.demon.co.uk>
In message <7Lzrc.20286$zw.10403_at_attbi_s01>, Marshall Spight
<mspight_at_dnai.com> writes
>"Anthony W. Youngman" <wol_at_thewolery.demon.co.uk> wrote in message news:uMz8IRDsXHqAFw+B_at_thewolery.demon.co.uk...
>>
>> But both are attempts to apply a mathematical model to a real world
>> problem. Viewed from a dispassionate oversight, both are instances of
>> the SAME problem, and the same techniques can be applied to solving
>> them. Namely "how well does my mathematical model work in the real
>> world?".
>
>It's clear you love this analogy, but it doesn't work.
>
>What we put in the database is data, not the real world. Neither do
>we attempt to say anything about the real world with our databases.
>Consider a payroll database. Does it contain one single fact about
>the natural world? It does not. It has names, social security numbers,
>addresses, salaries, phone numbers, etc. These are all 100% human
>constructs; none of them are found anywhere in the real world; they
>are exclusively in our heads.
Cheers,
Wol
-- Anthony W. Youngman - wol at thewolery dot demon dot co dot uk HEX wondered how much he should tell the Wizards. He felt it would not be a good idea to burden them with too much input. Hex always thought of his reports as Lies-to-People. The Science of Discworld : (c) Terry Pratchett 1999Received on Sat May 22 2004 - 14:54:33 CEST