@dennis - how would this model work on a type system? ----
I also believe that type systems are very awkward for modelling change - whereas a schema system like datomic is do much better because it is a lot looser in the constraints. For example, if we are modelling the stages if growth of a person, as well as the functions that they perform - baby, teen, further study/ work, career change, two jobs, parenting, etc... The type 'person' would have to be very generic, and pretty much the same as type 'nested map'. I like that typed clojure supports map checking and so it is not really 'typed clojure' in the traditional sense, but 'schema clojure' in the way datomic advocates use of data types. On 20/12/2013, at 22:20, Dennis Haupt <d.haup...@gmail.com> wrote: > in my mental world, there is a "pure human", and a 4 armed human would > probably be a 95% human or something, just like a hobbit would be. the other > way round, a human would be a "95% hobbit". an elephant would be 4% hobbit on > that scale. > this model is flexible, covers everything, and is not really helpful when you > ask "what is it?" you have to ask "is this at least 90% cat?" > > > 2013/12/20 Phillip Lord <phillip.l...@newcastle.ac.uk> >> zcaudate <z...@caudate.me> writes: >> > @philip lord. >> > >> > Where would mutant elephants and the elephant god Ganesha fit in that >> > classification? >> >> >> It might surprise you to know that there is actually quite a lot work on >> both of these. >> >> The problem with mutant elephants generalises into the problem with >> abnormalities; for example, if I build a model of a human which says, >> "humans have two hands, and two legs" then there are plenty of counter >> examples, having more or less than two hands (mostly less). If, on the >> other hand, you have a model which can cope with these exceptions, then >> it gets too complex to handle, and you can rarely conclude anything >> useful. >> >> Ganesha causes a different problem: that is does he exist at all, and if >> he does, is he an elephant. Now there are those who say no he isn't, so >> he shouldn't be in the model. And, there are those (like me) who say, >> well it depends on your application and what you are trying to achieve. >> >> Farcical as all of this sounds, it does actually have implications for >> the way that we build data models, particularly for biology and >> medicine. If you are interested, you can read my paper on the subject >> here: >> >> http://www.russet.org.uk/blog/1713 >> >> And a companion article by my co-author. It's about unicorns, but most >> of it probably covers Ganesha also. >> >> http://robertdavidstevens.wordpress.com/2011/05/26/unicorns-in-my-ontology/ >> >> Phil >> >> -- >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "Clojure" group. >> To post to this group, send email to clojure@googlegroups.com >> Note that posts from new members are moderated - please be patient with your >> first post. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/clojure?hl=en >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Clojure" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Clojure" group. > To post to this group, send email to clojure@googlegroups.com > Note that posts from new members are moderated - please be patient with your > first post. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/clojure?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google > Groups "Clojure" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/clojure/0I7u5yn01qU/unsubscribe. > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Clojure" group. To post to this group, send email to clojure@googlegroups.com Note that posts from new members are moderated - please be patient with your first post. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/clojure?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Clojure" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to clojure+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
