- From: Xiaoshu Wang <wangxiao@musc.edu>
- Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:31:00 +0000
- To: "'www-tag'" <www-tag@w3.org>
I think all these HTTP issues originate from the confusion between what we mean self-describing and self-consistent. I sincerely hope that we don't mix them up because self-describing is NOT the same as self-consistent. Self-describing above the web as an engineering system while self-consistent is about the web as a logic system (i.e., RDF and OWL). Self-description is about making data linkable and self-consistent is to make them logically consistent. I think, here, we must take Godel's advice, that is: there is no such system that is both complete and consistent. We can design a casual but complete system, i.e., to make all data linkable. But to make them also formally self-consistent is impossible. Please, let's listen to Godel and don't use the latter (self-consistent) to limit the further (self-describing). We can spend-more precisely waste-our entire life time to find the PERFECT solution. But there isn't one. So, DO NOT and let me repeat - DO NOT - bother to try. Let's address them separately so our effort will be more worthwhile and the result will be more fruitful. Xiaoshu
Received on Monday, 24 March 2008 12:32:10 UTC