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On the fringes daniel lewis
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Daniel Lewis Presented to the Intelligent Systems Lab, University of Bristol 26 th November 2013
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An informal talk discussing fringe science and fringe theories, and discussing what might (in Computing & Maths) be classed as "Fringe"? Also a brief discussion on whether Fuzzy Set Theory and the Semantic Web are "Fringe Theories"
Transcript of On the fringes daniel lewis
Daniel Lewis
Presented to the
Intelligent Systems Lab, University of Bristol
26th November 2013
Fringe Theory /frɪn(d)ʒ/ /ˈθɪəri/
“A single or collection of ideas which differ from the mainstream, or orthodox, views.”Examples: Alternative Medicine, Conspiracy Theories
Fringe Science/frɪn(d)ʒ/ /ˈsʌɪəns/
“Fringe science is a fringe theory which can be tried and tested using scientific method, but is not (yet) a mainstream view.”Example: Heliocentrism in 16th Century
Fringe sciences taken seriously…
• Grand Unified Theory
• Theory of Everything
• M-Theory
• Prof. Bryan Sykes (Genetics, Oxford) – Bigfoot Theories
Why?• Rigorous scientific investigation, and meaningful
analysis
Fringe computing? Fringe mathematics?
Is Semantic Web (or Linked Data) “fringe”…
Is Fuzzy Set Theory (and Fuzzy Logic) “fringe”…
Computer science fringe theories?
Mathematics fringe theories?
Why am I talking
about this?
Semantic Web & Linked Data
Connecting “things” – across the Web
WWW: 1989-1990
RDF: 1997-1999
OWL: 2002
SPARQL: 2004
Is it fringe?
To fringe S.W. Not to fringe S.W.
• Not suitable for Relational Databases
• WWW?• No Agents Yet?• Microformats and
Microdata?• “It is too complicated”• Licensing ambiguity
• It is Object Orientated / Graph based
• Some businesses use it• Some scientists use it• Build some useful
queries• It has a solid logical
base
Fuzzy Set Theory & Fuzzy Logic
• “Things” belonging to a set to a degree
• Statements being true to a degree
FST & FL: Mid-1960s by Zadeh
Łukasiewicz/Kleene: Multi-Valued Logics
Is it fringe?
To fringe Fuzzy Not to fringe Fuzzy
• Matches human thinking
• “Why not Probability?”• “What does a
membership value mean?”
• Adds complexity• Too many methods?
• Matches human thinking
• Uncertainty & Vagueness
• FL used in Control and Robotics
• FST use in DBMS
Over to you….
•Do you know of any fringe areas of computer science or mathematics?
•Are you working in (or have you worked in) any fringe area?
Over to you….• Skyrme model(physics).
• Klein Theory (physics).
• Seems to be plenty of theories from Physics…
• Might not be easy applying it to Computer Science /
Mathematics.
• Desire in the group for there to be a formal definition
of “Fringe”
• Related to Philosophy of Science (Kuhn)
• Also, Gartner Hype Cycle
In summary
• Fuzzy & SemWeb are Fringe? • Perhaps!
• How to get around being classed as “Fringe”?• Rigorous scientific investigation, and meaningful analysis
• Areas of CompSci and Maths which are “Fringe”?• Sure
• Should we apply CompSci and Maths to areas which are “Fringe”?• Yes!
Questions?
Daniel LewisRoom 104, 83 Woodland Road
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://vanirsystems.com/
