[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] =?UTF-8?Q?Re=3A_=5Bxml=2Ddev=5D_Create_fake_stuff_=28that=E2=80=99s_all_
A map is not the territory it represents, but, if correct, it has a similar structure to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness. — Alfred Korzybski, Science and Sanity (1933, p. 58) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map%E2%80%93territory_relation> On Sat, Jan 21, 2017 at 8:13 PM, Costello, Roger L. <costello@mitre.org> wrote: > Hi Folks, > > So, you’ve been tasked to create a model of weather patterns. Your > deliverable is an XML Schema. People will then use your XML Schema to > generate XML documents and exchange those XML documents. > > Ah, the world will be so much better with the ability to exchange > standardized weather data. > > But how will you model weather? What will your XML Schema contain? You do > not have expertise in weather science. How long will it take to gain the > expertise to create a useful weather model? How deep into the field should > you go? > > Answer: Give up. You have no hope of ever understanding weather. Even if you > are already an “expert” in weather science, you have no hope of truly > understanding weather. > > Allow me to explain. > > But first, a detour. > > … > > 1 + 1 = 2 > > Obvious, right? > > Not at all. It took two of the most brilliant 20th century mathematicians > (Whitehead and Russell) 300 pages to prove that 1 + 1 = 2. > > I have this note next to my desk, which I read every day: > > Everything is vague to a degree you do not realize > till you have tried to make it precise. > > Scientists, mathematicians, engineers, philosophers, sociologists, and > others recognize the futility of tackling reality head-on. So instead they > invent miniature – fake – worlds, containing small sets of fake symbols and > fake rules. They then manipulate the fake symbols, according to the fake > rules, to see what kind of fake results they get. Sometimes there is a > correspondence between the symbols and rules in their fake world to things > in the real world, and so the results they derive in the fake world are then > applied to the real world (with the caveat that it might be completely > wrong). > > Don’t be deceived (or have the conceit) to think that you fully understand > something. You don’t. You’re understanding is appallingly shallow. Mine as > well, of course. > > … > > Okay, back to the weather XML Schema. You will never understand weather. > Abandon such ambitions. So what to do? Answer, invent a miniature – fake – > world, containing a small set of fake symbols and fake rules. Create an XML > Schema for that fake world. If you’re lucky, exchanges of your fake stuff > will have utility to others. > > Comments? > > /Roger
[Date Prev] | [Thread Prev] | [Thread Next] | [Date Next] -- [Date Index] | [Thread Index] |
PURCHASE STYLUS STUDIO ONLINE TODAY!Purchasing Stylus Studio from our online shop is Easy, Secure and Value Priced! Download The World's Best XML IDE!Accelerate XML development with our award-winning XML IDE - Download a free trial today! Subscribe in XML format
|