Re: Examples of SQL anomalies?

"Cimode" <cimode_at_hotmail.com> wrote in message news:1de17b9b-d37d-4539-8567-d5f8ff56ed9f_at_m73g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
>
>> > <<I am more inclined to believe that the user is better able
>> > to make educated guesses than the system.>>
>> > And what allows you to claim such thing ? Users guessing makes
>> > database system useless in the first place.
>>
>> The users know what the data is supposed to mean. The system hasn't a
>> clue.
> I do not understand how you place system and people on the same
> standpoint. Don't you believe in need-to-know basis?
>

What has that to do with it?

>> > <<Ask yourself this: would the user be informed that the answer to his
>> > query is the result of an extrapolation? >> Does he need to?
>>
>> I would think so...otherwise he might try to justify an invasion because
>> the
>> extrapolation of what is known to be the case happens to be that the
>> subject
>> rogue nation is developing or stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.
>> In
>> the case of Iraq, President Bush may have ordered the invasion anyway,
>> but
>> would have had a lot less support in the international community if it
>> were
>> known beforehand that Saddam didn't posses any WMD. In the case of Iran,
>> however, it is known that the Iranian President has vowed to destroy
>> Israel,
>> that he is certifiable, and that Iran's nuclear energy program could be a
>> cover for developing nuclear weapons. It is also known that Iran has
>> defied
>> the international community and the IAEA in its continuing to refine
>> uranium. Therefore, extrapolating from what is known, is it safe to
>> assume
>> that Iran, due to its defiance, is secretly developing nuclear weapons?
>> Should we then support Israel's imminent preemptive strike against Iran?
>> Or
>> should the United States, in an effort to avoid a conflagration amongst
>> the
>> nations in the middle-east, strike instead?
> You lost me with the analogy provided. I quite frankly do not see the
> link between mathematical extrapolation and political manipulation.
> But I would say that if more people get a chance the same correct
> information they can avoid subjectiveness or counteract its
> downsides. If the american people had a chance to access the same CIA
> correct information that Bush Inc. distorted to justify special
> interest war in Iraq, a big blunder might have been avoided. But I
> guess that's completely off topic.

Well, that's just it. Our representatives in both the Senate and House Intelligence committees had the same information, and in fact, most of those that compiled the information were hired during the Clinton administration--including the head of the CIA. It runs counter to reason to say that Bush cooked the books to force an attack in Iraq. The best estimate available at the time concluded that Saddam still had WMD and was seeking more. An extrapolation is really just an estimate, and can be as far off the mark as the CIA's estimate was determined in hindsight to be. Received on Sun Jul 06 2008 - 16:43:09 CEST