Dear Christian-Emil, all,
This is a very good start.
In order to understand the problem, we need to have an overview of all
properties inherited from STV, those raised to STV, and see the
long-paths that will be consequence of the indirection, as well as
ambiguities of choices of representation in time and space for those
properties we have merged after the IsA.
All the best,
Martin
On 10/15/2019 11:11 AM, Christian-Emil Smith Ore wrote:
Dear all,
This email describes the issue of replacing the E18 isa E92 Spacetime
volume and E4 isa E92 Spacetime volume with properties. The main
reason to do so is based on the observation that for most of the
(potential) users of CRM it is too abstract to identify a thing with
its spacetime volume.
Below I start with a soft introduction and then present the issue(s).
I have given links to documents which can be downloaded. These are ppt
with 4 possible cases (case 3 is what is suggested) and concordance
of the phrase “spacetime volume” in the CRM document.
ppt: http://www.edd.uio.no/nedlasting/cidoc-crm/STV_suggested_changes.ppt
concordance:
http://www.edd.uio.no/nedlasting/cidoc-crm/kwic_spacetime_volume.txt
Best,
Christian-Emil
********
The concept of spacetime volume is taken from physics. The idea is
intuitive. Every physical thing has a volume, that is, occupies space
(check your cupboard). When a cup is moved in the kitchen its volume
will move relative to the kitchen floor and walls. Its place in the
kitchen will depend on the time of the day. If the cup’s movement is
registered in a 3D model, say every second , its whereabouts will look
like some strange geometric figure. If the cups movement from it
production to it is broken beyond recognition by a steamroller, this
can also be a figure depending on time. So for any identifiable thing
there will be a unique volume from it gets it identity until the
identity is lost. This can be seen as a volume in a 4 dimensional
space (X,Y,Z,T), that is, a 3D figure evolving over time. It should
also be evident that such a 4D volume is unique for a physical thing.
Two things describing the exact same volume during their lifetime can
be considered the same thing.
Instances of the class E92 Spacetime volume (STV among friends) are
such 4 dimensional volumes. It is a handy abstraction which makes it
possible to talk about a ship’s travel etc. The one to one relation
between an identifiable physical thing and a spacetime volume is the
reason to make E18 Physical thing a subclass of E92 Spacetime Volume,
that is, every instance of E18 Physical thing _is_ an instance of E92
Spacetime volume. However, practical experience has shown that this is
considered to be very abstract for most users of CRM. We have
observed confusions and misinterpretations. It is reported to be very
difficult to teach CRM with this construct. It is more intuitive to
say that a physical thing has a spacetime volume than to say that a
physical thing is a spacetime volume.
Proposal 1: Replace E18 isa E92 Spacetime volume with a property PXXX:
Pxxx has defining STV (is defining STV of)
Domain: E18 Physical Thing
Range: E92 Spacetime Volume
Quantification: one to one, necessary (1,1:0,1)
In the current model we also have E4 Period isa E92 Spacetime volume.
This is more intuitive since something happening has a time and a
place but no physical substance. On the other hand, it is arguable
that two events may happen at the same time and same place. A simple
example technical example are instances of E8 Acquisition and E10
Transfer of Custody, which may happen at the same time and place. More
generally and perhaps more philosophically, when documenting the past,
it is not uncommon to interpret something happing at a place and time
as more than one event. If one accept this, then an instance of E92
Spacetime Volume is not in one to one relation with an instance of E4
Period, two instances of E4 Period can share an instance of E92
Spacetime Volume
Proposal 2: Replace E4 isa E92 Spacetime volume with a property Pyyy
Pyyy has defining STV (is defining STV of)
Domain: E4 Period
Range: E92 Spacetime Volume
Quantification: one to one, necessary (1,1:0,n)
This construct will solve the problem of P4 vs P160.
Consequences for the current CRM (document):
There only two properties that are a sub property of a property with
STV as domain or range:
1) P46 is composed of (forms part of)
2) P156 occupies (is occupied by)
P46 needs an adjustment of the FOL-definition (which also has an error
as it is today). P156 is ok as it is (although its not so easy to
understand)
The scope not of the two classes E4 Period and P18 Physical thing has
to be adjusted. There is a almost identical paragraph which can be
deleted and reused in the scope note for the new properties.
E18 Physical Thing:
We model E18 Physical Thing to be a subclass of E72 Legal Object and
of E92 Spacetime Volume. The latter is intended as a phenomenal
spacetime volume as defined in CRMgeo (Doerr and Hiebel 2013). By
virtue of this multiple inheritance we can discuss the physical extent
of an instance of E18 Physical Thing without representing each
instance of it together with an instance of its associated spacetime
volume. This model combines two quite different kinds of substance: an
instance of E18 Physical Thing is matter while an instance of E92
Spacetime Volume is an aggregation of points in spacetime. However,
the real spatiotemporal extent of an instance of E18 Physical Thing is
regarded to be unique to it, due to all its details and fuzziness; its
identity and existence depends uniquely on the identity of the
instance of E18 Physical Thing. Therefore this multiple inheritance is
unambiguous and effective and furthermore corresponds to the
intuitions of natural language.
E4 Period:
We model E4 Period as a subclass of E2 Temporal Entity and of E92
Spacetime Volume. The latter is intended as a phenomenal spacetime
volume as defined in CIDOC CRMgeo (Doerr and Hiebel, 2013). By virtue
of this multiple inheritance we can discuss the physical extent of an
instance of E4 Period without representing each instance of it
together with an instance of its associated spacetime volume. This
model combines two quite different kinds of substance: an instance of
E4 Period is a phenomena while an instance of E92 Spacetime Volume is
an aggregation of points in spacetime. However, the real
spatiotemporal extent of an instance of E4 Period is regarded to be
unique to it due to all its details and fuzziness; its identity and
existence depends uniquely on the identity of the instance of E4
Period. Therefore this multiple inheritance is unambiguous and
effective and furthermore corresponds to the intuitions of natural
language.
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--
------------------------------------
Dr. Martin Doerr
Honorary Head of the
Center for Cultural Informatics
Information Systems Laboratory
Institute of Computer Science
Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH)
N.Plastira 100, Vassilika Vouton,
GR70013 Heraklion,Crete,Greece
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Email: [email protected]
Web-site: http://www.ics.forth.gr/isl
