Re: The term "theory" as in "database theory"

"Kenneth Downs" <knode.wants.this_at_see.sigblock> wrote in message news:1169843658.476316_at_nntp.acecape.com...
> dawn wrote:
>
> > I have been working on a question related to the term "theory" and
> > decided I first should get a better idea of what this term means to
> > others. Below is the dictionary.com list of definitions. Which of the
> > following comes closest to the use of the term "theory" in this ng as
> > in "database theory", or is there another someone wants to provide?
> > Thanks in advance. --dawn
> >
> >>From dictionary.com
> >
> > "1. a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of
> > explanation for a class of phenomena: Einstein's theory of relativity.
>
> Unsuitble. A database is not a phenomenon whose principles need to be
> discovered, as for instance the phenomenon of gravity is the subject of
> Einstein's theory of relativity. A database is a man-made thing whose
> principles are crafted by the human mind to accomplish human goals.

I disagree. You can have a theory that describes phenomena made by humans. For example, you can have a theory of linguistics. Human language is definitely crafted by humans. And it is definitely a subject for the kind of theory described above. Received on Sat Jan 27 2007 - 16:21:47 CET