Better Thinking through Ontology

By Joshua Cheatham

How would a computer know that when we talk about a “book of paper” we are referring to it’s composition whereas when we talk about a “book of unspeakable lies” we refer to the content of the message printed therein?

The way that this is handled is through ontology.  Whether you know it or not, each and every person’s fundamental understanding of her surroundings is based on a personal ontology.  Now “ontology” is really just a technical word for something that is at the same time simple yet crucial; an ontology is a hierarchical framework used to understand and classify things.  Let’s take a look at ontology information for cat, for example: Read more…