Re: Thinking about MINUS
From: Bob Badour <bbadour_at_pei.sympatico.ca>
Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2007 04:50:14 GMT
Message-ID: <aaFoh.42591$cz.623576_at_ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca>
>> Marshall wrote:
>>
>>> On Jan 8, 3:32 am, paul c <toledobythe..._at_oohay.ac> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Marshall wrote:...
>>>>
>>>>> Ah, but when we are joining, which is to say unifying, two relations,
>>>>> and the two relations each make different, *incompatible* claims
>>>>> about the type associated with a particular attribute name, then
>>>>> I would say that well meets the criteria for being "contradictory."
>>>>>
>>>>> ...Well, if I have 10 Navel Oranges and 10 Tangerine Oranges and I
>>>>> ask how
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> many Florida Oranges I've got, I would hope the answer would be zero,
>>>> not "contradiction".
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I would hope so too, but I wouldn't consider that to be an example
>>> of a type error. Hmmm. I need some kind of metaphor that illustrates
>>> that you're comparing two different kinds of things that shouldn't
>>> be compared, ideally that involves oranges and maybe one other
>>> kind of fruit, but I can't think of anything. Darn.
>>
>>
>>
>> Actually, the example is just imprecise and perhaps suggests a failure
>> to think about type sufficiently. If the only information given is "10
>> Navel Oranges" and "10 Tangerine Oranges", one can only compare the
>> values lexically. In that case, the number of oranges lexically
>> matching "Florida Oranges" is zero.
>>
>> However, if the above is an imprecise/informal description of a
>> predicate like "I have a Quantity of Fruit of each Cultivar" then one
>> cannot even express the question "Where did the fruit come from?" or
>> "How many of the orange fruit came from Florida?" given only the
>> predicate above.
>>
>> This raises the question: What is the data type of the value "Navel
>> Oranges" used above? Or perhaps the value wasn't even used directly
>> and the better question is: What is the data type of the value "10
>> Navel Oranges" used above?
>> ...
Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2007 04:50:14 GMT
Message-ID: <aaFoh.42591$cz.623576_at_ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca>
paul c wrote:
> Bob Badour wrote: >
>> Marshall wrote:
>>
>>> On Jan 8, 3:32 am, paul c <toledobythe..._at_oohay.ac> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Marshall wrote:...
>>>>
>>>>> Ah, but when we are joining, which is to say unifying, two relations,
>>>>> and the two relations each make different, *incompatible* claims
>>>>> about the type associated with a particular attribute name, then
>>>>> I would say that well meets the criteria for being "contradictory."
>>>>>
>>>>> ...Well, if I have 10 Navel Oranges and 10 Tangerine Oranges and I
>>>>> ask how
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> many Florida Oranges I've got, I would hope the answer would be zero,
>>>> not "contradiction".
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I would hope so too, but I wouldn't consider that to be an example
>>> of a type error. Hmmm. I need some kind of metaphor that illustrates
>>> that you're comparing two different kinds of things that shouldn't
>>> be compared, ideally that involves oranges and maybe one other
>>> kind of fruit, but I can't think of anything. Darn.
>>
>>
>>
>> Actually, the example is just imprecise and perhaps suggests a failure
>> to think about type sufficiently. If the only information given is "10
>> Navel Oranges" and "10 Tangerine Oranges", one can only compare the
>> values lexically. In that case, the number of oranges lexically
>> matching "Florida Oranges" is zero.
>>
>> However, if the above is an imprecise/informal description of a
>> predicate like "I have a Quantity of Fruit of each Cultivar" then one
>> cannot even express the question "Where did the fruit come from?" or
>> "How many of the orange fruit came from Florida?" given only the
>> predicate above.
>>
>> This raises the question: What is the data type of the value "Navel
>> Oranges" used above? Or perhaps the value wasn't even used directly
>> and the better question is: What is the data type of the value "10
>> Navel Oranges" used above?
>> ...
> > Bob, thanks in any event, maybe you've hit the nail I was hammering at. > Is "what is the data type?" the same as "what is the possible use?", > given that it is a simple computer with a simple instruction set that is > giving the answer?
The principal constraint on possible use is, as always, human imagination. .... er, well, unless you are a dog, as Buddy and Nella here remind me. Then the principal constraint is canine imagination, but I digress. Received on Tue Jan 09 2007 - 05:50:14 CET