[uf-discuss] Proposal: hArgument Microformat

[James Craig]

Hey Roger,

Looks interesting. Check out the Microformats process.
http://microformats.org/wiki/process

Then propose on the [microformats-new] list.

Cheers,
James



On May 20, 2007, at 2:37 PM, Costello, Roger L. wrote:

> Hi Folks,
>
> Michael Crichton says: "The greatest challenge facing mankind is the
> challenge of distinguishing reality from fantasy, truth from
> propaganda. Perceiving the truth has always been a challenge to
> mankind, but in the information age (or as I think of it, the
> disinformation age) it takes on a special urgency and importance."
>
> One of the keys to distinguishing information from disinformation  
> is to
> have a clear understanding of the assumptions an author is making.
> Typically, it takes a great deal of effort to distill an author's
> assumptions.  Bring clearly to light the assumptions being made would
> go a long way towards facilitating a web of trust.
>
> I propose an hArgument Microformat with two properties:
>
> hArgument
>    assumption (repeatable): a statement of what the author assumes to
> be true,
>        and upon which his/her conclusion follows. [If it can be
> demonstrated that
>        the assumption is false, then the conclusion is invalid]
>
>    conclusion (repeatable): a statement that derives from the
> assumption(s)
>
> Example: below is an example of an argument.  The argument can be
> immediately discredited because the assumptions can be shown to be
> fallacious:
>
> <p class="hArgument">
>
>    <span class="assumption">Microformats are a disruptive
> technology</span>
>
>    <span class="assumption">Microformats are attempting to supplant  
> XML
>
>        documents with HTML and XHTML documents</span>
>
>    <span class="assumption">The main benefit of Microformats is  
> that it
>
>        allows graceful degradation</span>
>
>    <span class="conclusion">Microformats go too far.</span>
>
>    <span class="conclusion">It's almost better to use a more suited
>        format in such cases</span>
> </p>
>
> The advantage of this is that there is no need to "guess" what are the
> author's assumptions.  They are clearly identified.
>
> Use Cases: any web page that tries to convince you of something.  The
> examples are endless.
>
> Comments?
>
> /Roger
>
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