Earlier this year, I mentioned Virginia O'Hanlon in an article that I wrote for SEMANTIC UNIVERSE. As it's that Christmas time of year, here's an excerpt from that piece:
'All of which reminds me of the famous story of little Virginia O'Hanlon who, in 1897, wrote her famous letter to Francis P. Church, editor of the New York Sun, asking, "Is there a Santa Claus?" to which Church replied, "Yes, Virginia, there is..." For a couple of generations, that answer sufficed and helped establish the Santa figure with a certain innocent veracity.
There is just no need to debate or drive that point home. But, today, it's just that sort of "declaration" working within the systematic documentation, discovery, surfacing, and online, interactive presentation of the "news" that makes an editorial response, or whatever the content is, that much more thought provoking. Today, particularly in the sphere of semantic technology, we're not just trying to convince children that "Santa Claus" exists as much as we're working to convince a whole host of intelligent agents and their algorithms that he exists, too.'
Interesting argument. I like the way you write. Hope there's more to come.
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