Examples of Definitions That Could Be Improved
Here is the definition of "person" data element as defined in the www.w3c.org Friend of a Friend specification *:
Person: A person.Although most people do have an intuitive understanding of what a person is, the definition has much room for improvement. The first problem is that the definition is circular. Note that this definition really does not help most readers and needs to be clarified.
Here is the definition of the "Person" Data Element in the Global Justice XML Data Model 3.0 *:
person: Describes inherent and frequently associated characteristics of a person.Note that once again the definition is still circular. Person should not reference itself. The definition should use terms other than person to describe what a person is.
Here is a more precise but shorter definition of a person:
Person: An individual human being.Note that it uses the word individual to state that this is an instance of a class of things called human being. Technically you might use "homo sapiens" in your definition, but more people are familiar with the term "human being" than "homo sapiens," so commonly used terms, if they are still precise, are always preferred.
Sometimes your system may have cultural norms and assumptions in the definitions. For example if your "Person" data element tracked characters in a science fiction series that included aliens you may need a more general term other than human being.
Person: An individual of a sentient species.Read more about this topic: Data Element Definition
Famous quotes containing the words examples of, examples, definitions and/or improved:
“It is hardly to be believed how spiritual reflections when mixed with a little physics can hold people’s attention and give them a livelier idea of God than do the often ill-applied examples of his wrath.”
—G.C. (Georg Christoph)
“In the examples that I here bring in of what I have [read], heard, done or said, I have refrained from daring to alter even the smallest and most indifferent circumstances. My conscience falsifies not an iota; for my knowledge I cannot answer.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“The loosening, for some people, of rigid role definitions for men and women has shown that dads can be great at calming babies—if they take the time and make the effort to learn how. It’s that time and effort that not only teaches the dad how to calm the babies, but also turns him into a parent, just as the time and effort the mother puts into the babies turns her into a parent.”
—Pamela Patrick Novotny (20th century)
“While civilization has been improving our houses, it has not equally improved the men who are to inhabit them. It has created palaces, but it was not so easy to create noblemen and kings.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)