RE: [huml-comment] PC-33 -Section 4.4.6-race

["Bullard, Claude L (Len)" <clbullar@ingr.com>]

The primary is an informal ontology.  Race is a type 
that might be defined by a prototype in a formal ontology.
See below.
  
Given we did not create a formal ontology, I can't assert 
a reason to remove it based on that but I can guess that 
anyone attempting to create prototypes or axioms for 
the secondary are in for trouble.  As I said to Sylvia, 
this seems to be trouble humans choose, so I am not 
inclined to judgementally remove it.  I do not believe 
it to be a proper physical descriptor, but suggest that 
a selection test would show most people can use a 
simple enumeration correctly most of the time based on 
their surface observations of physical characteristics.  

The application dilemma is one of how such a selection value 
is used later but that is not what we should be debating 
here.

len

From http://www.jfsowa.com/ontology/index.htm

"Definition and Scope

The subject of ontology is the study of the categories of things that exist or may exist in some domain. The product of such a study, called an ontology, is a catalog of the types of things that are assumed to exist in a domain of interest D from the perspective of a person who uses a language L for the purpose of talking about D. 

The types in the ontology represent the predicates, word senses, or concept and relation types of the language L when used to discuss topics in the domain D. 

An informal ontology may be specified by a catalog of types that are either undefined or defined only by statements in a natural language. 

A formal ontology is specified by a collection of names for concept and relation types organized in a partial ordering by the type-subtype relation. 

Formal ontologies are further distinguished by the way the subtypes are distinguished from their supertypes: an axiomatized ontology distinguishes subtypes by axioms and definitions stated in a formal language, such as logic or some computer-oriented notation that can be translated to logic; a prototype-based ontology distinguishes subtypes by a comparison with a typical member or prototype for each subtype. Large ontologies often use a mixture of definitional methods: formal axioms and definitions are used for the terms in mathematics, physics, and engineering; and prototypes are used for plants, animals, and common household items."