Re: "Identity" - is a modal notion and the matrix

> On 2 Jun 2017, at 20:29, Joe Andrieu <joe@joeandrieu.com> wrote:
> 
> Yes!
> 
> That's a great video about framing. I'm trying to frame identity in its functional nature so we can avoid the "irrelevant" conversations about philosophical, cultural, political, notions of identity. In Peterson's language, these rabbit holes are obstacles to engineering good identity systems; I'm hoping "functional" terminology will prove to be useful tools.

Well to avoid re-inventing  nearly two centuries of research I would suggest working with the 
mathematical tools that have been developed over the last 200 years, starting with 
Boole and then moving on to Frege, who lay the groundwork of mathematical predicate 
logic using functions, to Bertrand Russel, Wittgenstein, Goedel, ... all the way to recent work on Description
Logics that have gone one step further to looking at the computability cost of logical
descriptions. See for example the just release book "An Introduction to Description Logics"
https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Description-Logic-Franz-Baader/dp/0521873614/ <https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Description-Logic-Franz-Baader/dp/0521873614/>

All of these are based on notions of mathematical functions. That categories simplify
reality is also true in a way. But things get very very complicated quickly if one is not careful.

In this case simplifying ones life means learning what has already been done, and
looking to the great breakthroughs to avoid what may have seemed relevant but
perhaps was only shown to be irrelevant after 10 year research.

In any case you'll be happy to know that there is a notion of a frame that appears 
in modal logic (description logic is oddly enough a form of modal logic)


Henry

> 
> -j
> 
> 
> On Fri, Jun 2, 2017, at 11:11 AM, Christoph Dorn wrote:
>> 
>> On June 2, 2017 05:58:30 am PDT, "David Chadwick"
>> <D.W.Chadwick@kent.ac.uk <mailto:D.W.Chadwick@kent.ac.uk>> wrote:
>> 
>> My take on identity (or more properly the process of identifying an
>> entity) is that it is needed by everyone and everything for the
>> functional purpose of authorisation, which is the most generic of all
>> functions. It encapsulates all possible actions, including tracking
>> (from Joe's narrower definition). All actions need to be
>> authorised/controlled, thus they need to identify the actors.
>> 
>> I identify you to decide whether I want to have or continue a
>> relationship with you (and not with someone else).
>> 
>> 
>> The "functional" point of view being at the "root" seems to be
>> consistent with Jordan Peterson's psychological perspective on
>> Relevance Conception: Does something Help, Hinder or is it Irrelevant?
>> 
>> Quick overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZXJ_6B07NY <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZXJ_6B07NY>
>> 
>> Christoph
>> 
> --
> Joe Andrieu, PMP
> joe@joeandrieu.com <mailto:joe@joeandrieu.com>
> +1(805)705-8651
> http://blog.joeandrieu.com
>