SUO: RE: RE: RE: On the relevance of EXPRESS, EPISTLE, etc. to SUO -- RE: RE: RE: Some Procedural Suggestions
Dear Matthew,
More comments and questions below --
Regards,
Phil
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> > > MW: In EPISTLE we modestly claim that the EPISTLE Core Model can
> > > represent "life the universe and everything" (well almost).
> >
> > PJ: OK, how about the phrase "life, the universe and everything"
> > as another
> > "challenge concept"? How would you represent this in EPISTLE?
>
> MW: Well I guess the simple answer is "thing" our supreme
> supertype. That of
> course is the set of all things, which includes classes and
> relations and so
> on.
PJ: OK, I'll accept this answer for "everything" :-)
> MW: If you want "life the universe and everything" from the dawn
> of time to
> the end of the universe, then we are talking about that spatio-temporal
> extent that is the whole of space for all time, and that is also easy
> enough.
PJ: It could be interesting and worthwhile in terms of understanding
limitations and potentials for future development, to explore the question
in terms of the component concepts "life" and "the universe":
How would you represent the concept "Life" in EPISTLE? More specifically,
how would EPISTLE represent the various senses of the word "life" that are
defined, e.g., in WordNet?
Regarding the concept "Universe", for sake of discussion let "U" refer to
"spatio-temporal extent that is the whole of space for all time":
For "whole of space" does EPISTLE consider space to be closed or unbounded,
finite or infinite, discrete or continuous? Same question for "all time" --
E.g. how would EPISTLE represent the concept of a universe which did not
exist before a Big Bang?
Does U include the laws of physics, and the "operative principles" of events
in higher level domains like chemistry, biology, etc., or are such laws
considered as separate from U? How are such laws represented in EPISTLE?
If EPISTLE is constrained to 4D, then it seems likely that it cannot
represent concepts of the universe described by theories that require more
than 4 dimensions, e.g. superstring theories?
How would EPISTLE represent the concept of an "alternate universe" in which,
e.g., JFK decided not to go to Dallas in November, 1963? More broadly, how
would EPISTLE represent the concept of a "multiverse" as postulated in the
"many worlds interpretation" of quantum mechanics?
How would EPISTLE represent the concept of a universe (or multiverse) which
had different laws of physics than our known universe and the laws of
physics that we currently accept as well-established?
[...]
> > PJ: Can you give us a summary of the limits you currently know
> > of? (That will save us time finding them :-)
>
> MW: I think I have.
PJ: Yes -- thanks very much for your answers!