[tdwg-content] A question of Ranks [was: Re: tdwg-content Digest, Vol 20, Issue 17]

[Richard Pyle]

Nice pic!  I remember when you took it.  For those who don't know us
personally, Bob is the one standing, waving his arms (as Bob is prone to
do).  I am the one in the lower right foreground, looking like I've gone
without sleep for days (as I am prone to do).

At the time, I was looking over your shoulder and saw that you were tweeting
back and forth with Jim Croft (and I think Rod Page as well).  What made
that funny to me was that Jim was in the room, just out of frame on the left
side of the photo, and Rod was (presumably) in Glasgow, and the three of you
were having a virtual conversation in real time, during a conference
presentation.  It's a different world....

Anyway, to bring it back into scope for this email list, I'll note that in
the photo I'm wearing my treasured GBIF/TDWG T-shirt, customized with the
embroidered caption, "GUID's Rule".  I think of "GUID's" as possesive, so
it's comparable to something like "God's Rule".  Coincidentally, I happen to
be wearing that very same shirt right now.

So...where were we?

Rich

P.S. One final off-topic salvo: Nico, you have no idea how jealous I am that
you were at the rally!




________________________________

	From: Nico Cellinese [mailto:ncellinese at flmnh.ufl.edu] 
	Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2010 5:21 PM
	To: Bob Morris
	Cc: Richard Pyle; tdwg-content at lists.tdwg.org
	Subject: Re: [tdwg-content] A question of Ranks [was: Re:
tdwg-content Digest, Vol 20, Issue 17]
	
	
	Of course Bob!!  

	Nico (picking up her pieces after exploding)

	
	
	On Nov 3, 2010, at 11:15 PM, Bob Morris wrote:


		Ah, but here's the rub when it comes to Propositional or
First Order Logic: If there is any assertion of Rich's---or anybody
else's---about which you, Nico C, both agree and disagree, then every
assertion whatsoever of yours is correct.  Now that part, I realize you
already accept. The catch is that every assertion whatsoever of yours is
also false.  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_explosion  
		--Bob
		
		
		
		
		
		On Wed, Nov 3, 2010 at 10:49 PM, Nico Cellinese
<ncellinese at flmnh.ufl.edu> wrote:
		

			Wonderful to agree and disagree with you, yes
indeed, even better with *spirit*!  


				Jon Stewart would be proud of us both.
				


			I went to the rally in DC last Saturday!  We two are
indeed sane :-)


				As for the utility of ranks -- well, I'm
ready to agree to disagree, as long
				as we can both acknowledge that lots and
lots of existing data "out there"
				are still classified (in a taxonomic sense)
against the Linnaean
				nomenclatural system, for which
dwc:taxonRank is a relevant (at least)
				attribute.
				


			Indeed! As mentioned in a previous email to you, I
can live (even happy) with dwc:taxonRank :-)

			Nico (who does not believe in species but thinks
only clades are real)



			<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
			Nico Cellinese, Ph.D.
			Assistant Curator, Herbarium & Informatics
			Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Biology
			
			Florida Museum of Natural History
			University of Florida
			354 Dickinson Hall, PO Box 117800
			Gainesville, FL 32611-7800, U.S.A.
			Tel. 352-273-1979
			Fax 352-846-1861
			http://cellinese.blogspot.com/
			
			
			
			

			_______________________________________________
			tdwg-content mailing list
			tdwg-content at lists.tdwg.org
			http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-content
			
			




		-- 
		Robert A. Morris
		Emeritus Professor  of Computer Science
		UMASS-Boston
		100 Morrissey Blvd
		Boston, MA 02125-3390
		Associate, Harvard University Herbaria
		email: morris.bob at gmail.com
		web: http://bdei.cs.umb.edu/
		web: http://etaxonomy.org/mw/FilteredPush
		http://www.cs.umb.edu/~ram <http://www.cs.umb.edu/%7Eram> 
		phone (+1) 857 222 7992 (mobile)