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Towards the Open Advancement of Question Answering Systems

As opposed to away from the covert hindering of answer questioning chaos?

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 04:55:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

As opposed to the Hokey-Pokey:

in Greek.

I take it you lack experience with B2B White Papers. This one ain't bad, as such things go.

Ever since I learnt about confirmation bias I've started seeing it everywhere

by ATinNM on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 06:59:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

A QA system is a software system that provides exact answers to natural language questions for some range of topics. The notion of exact in this context is ultimately a subjective measure intended to indicate that a QA system is distinguished by providing responses that contain just the information necessary to precisely answer the question intended by user. The QA system's exact answer may be supplemented with additional information, including a justification or dialog explaining why the provided answer is correct.

(emphasis in the original)

I'm wondering whether they are going to perorate on the difference between exact and accurate answers.

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 05:02:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I like the idea of 'exact' being subjective,

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 06:17:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

In German, genau means exact, exactly. But the common phrase is ganz genau, or completely exact. Meaning there are degrees of exact?

Only in 'Schland.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 06:37:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

it means more like correct in that context

it can also mean accurate

German is like that - words have many meanings which change with the context, and whose degree is adjusted with other words. quite an interesting way of approaching a language

by stevesim on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 07:04:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

here is a good example:

Geist means

mind
ghost
psyche
apparition
intellect, or
wit

depending on the context

by stevesim on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 07:13:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Thursday Open Thread (4.00 / 4)

German is like that - words have many meanings

You don't mean to say that German is unique in that?

Geist means

mind
ghost
psyche
apparition
intellect, or
wit

And how many meanings does the word spirit have in English?

mind
ghost
psyche
apparition
humor
liquor

and so on

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 07:51:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

ok that's not the best example but the comment still holds.

whereas in French and English people have to struggle to learn new words, in German you have to learn the various usages of each word. guessing a new word is easier in German as you can quickly understand how words are structured.

by stevesim on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 04:45:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]

whereas in French and English people have to struggle to learn new words, in German you have to learn the various usages of each word

I still disagree that that's a difference between these languages.

guessing a new word is easier in German as you can quickly understand how words are structured

It depends. You need to be a relatively proficient German speaker already to be able to do that.

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 05:25:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]

being able to speak all three languages rather well and others in addition, I have to say that that is the biggest difference between German and other languages. of course, there are some examples of one word being used to mean several different things in other languages, but not to the same extent as in German.

in fact, I remember reading something that Einstein had said, and people interpreting in English that he meant to use "Geist" as mind rather than spirit when writing about something, and that is why that example came to mind.

and one really does not have to be proficient to understand how German builds new words and how objects are designated by their function rather than by an obscure word that needs to be memorized.

by stevesim on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 05:41:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]

and one really does not have to be proficient to understand how German builds new words and how objects are designated by their function rather than by an obscure word that needs to be memorized.

Sure, but you said this makes it easy to guess the meaning of a new composite word, which is an entirely different thing and (at least to me) can be difficult even if you can decompose it into building blocks.

There are long series of verbs built from a various prepositions and a single stem verb, and the meaning is not necessarily obvious. Mastering the prepositional system of a language is among the hardest parts of learning a language (just like in English phrasal verbs are an 'advanced vocabulary' topic).

And the number of "obscure" stem words in German is still large enough that learning them is a difficulty, just like in English.

Are you a native German speaker, by the way?

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 05:54:22 AM EST
[ Parent ]

here is a better example: Kugelschreiber which is a word that one learns rather early when learning German. And when one breaks it down into the component words, it is easy to understand and remember.

And that leads me to the word Kugel which in German can mean ball, bullet, sphere, orb, globe, etc

As for the verbs, yes they can be difficult but as one understands how they are formed from the stems, it becomes easier to understand the meaning of a new word without referring to a dictionary.

Every language has its difficulties but learning new vocabulary I don't think is one of the problems with German.

by stevesim on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 06:01:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

And that leads me to the word Kugel which in German can mean ball, bullet, sphere, orb, globe, etc

You're again not claiming that ball doesn't have multiple meanings such as sphere, drop, globe, pellet, orb, projectile, shot, dance, testicle...

Kugelschreiber is an easy one, assuming you have memorised the "obscure" stem word kugel.

Also, a large fraction of German composite words, especially composite verbs, are calques from Latin. So that kind of composition has to be as much of a difficulty when learning German as when learning Latin (or languages whose vocabulary is derived from Latin).

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 06:19:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I disagree. Kugel is used quite often and is not obscure. For example, a scoop of ice cream is also a Kugel so the use of the word becomes immediately apparent.

Then, the prefixes or suffixes ver, an, auf, ab, aus, er, be, um, etc also follow some type of rules that also become apparent with exposure so one can easily get the meaning of aussteigen, umsteigen, ansteigen if one understands the meaning of the verb steigen.

Although again, ansteigen means to climb aboard and to increase....

by stevesim on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 07:13:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]

the prefixes or suffixes ver, an, auf, ab, aus, er, be, um, etc also follow some type of rules that also become apparent with exposure

That's where I said mastering the prepositional system of a language is among the hardest parts of learning a language. Exposure is not enough, generally. Immersion is needed.

Any language's verb tense system is actually an elaborate temporal model, and the prepositional system is an elaborate spatial model. The fun part is that each language's spatial and temporal systems are different in subtle ways. For instance, the Spanish en is used variously for the meanings of (at least) in on at. On the other hand, Spanish has more verb tenses in regular use than most European languages. This does not mean that a Spanish speaker does not understand the difference between in and on, just like speakers of other languages are not unable to express some of the temporal nuances of Spanish tenses. But turning such an understanding into an intuitive or automatic language sense is a different matter entirely.

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 07:32:13 AM EST
[ Parent ]

there's another aspect of prepositions in German that is far more difficult, and that is what I thought you were referring to. there's a fixed preposition for each verb, for example, thinking about something or denken an etwas, or waiting for is warten auf. these require memorisation.

by stevesim on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 07:38:13 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Again, as in Latin. And the case which each preposition demands also must be memorised. And some prepositions can take more than one case, which changes the meaning of the verb. But I was thinking of composites of preposition and verb, so not the fact that one says denken an but that nachdenken means 'to reflect' doesn't seem to follow from the fact that nach means 'after'. And it's nachdenken + über whereas it's denken an...

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 07:44:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

well, you see, I think nachdenken = reflect is self-evident

by stevesim on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 07:49:44 AM EST
[ Parent ]

But is it evident that reflect must be <blank>denken?

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 07:52:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I do not understand your question

by stevesim on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 07:56:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Are you going from German to English or from English to German when you say it's evident that reflect = nachdenken?

In any case, reflect is composed from flex (= bend), so...

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 07:58:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I don't really think in languages but in concept since I grew up with many languages

by stevesim on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 08:01:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Then you may not be representative of what people learning English or German as foreign languages find difficult.

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 08:05:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

we all learn differently based on our experiences and capabilities

by stevesim on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 08:10:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]

the prefixes or suffixes ver, an, auf, ab, aus, er, be, um, etc also follow some type of rules that also become apparent with exposure

Interesting that you're mixing prepositions (an, auf, ab, aus, um) with particles that are not prepositions (ver, er, be).

Which is partly responsible for the separability or not of the verbs - (un)trennbare Verben -, and is in turn related to the English grammar concept of ending a sentence by a preposition. (The preposition by which I end the sentence, as opposed to the preposition which I end the sentence by)

That is one instance where I would object to the way grammar is taught in terms of form (whether verbs separate or not) which is to be memorised, rather than in terms of function (the particle is or is not a preposition). But then again, I'm a grammar wonk and don't subscribe to the "just talk, people will understand you even if you make mistakes" school of language teaching.

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 09:47:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Yes, it takes work to speak onewallfree German.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 10:19:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Does not what is easy and hard about a language primarily depend on what languages you already know?

A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!

by A swedish kind of death on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 06:59:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]

you remind me that I recently heard of the concept of sign language poetry. Isn't that an interesting concept?

by stevesim on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 07:20:33 AM EST
[ Parent ]

How about the fact that French and British sign languages are different, and that American sign language is descended from the French and not the English?

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 07:23:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]

yes that is extremely interesting as well. I had thought that the advantage of sign language would be to be able to communicate across oral language barriers, but alas...

by stevesim on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 07:25:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

What about Nicaraguan sign language (4.00 / 2)

which emerged spontaneously among students at a school for the deaf, who weren't taught any other sign language and has evolved elaborate syntax and grammar...

This speaks to the human brain's innate ability to generate language.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 09:34:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

No, sorry, not a chance. English is notorious for combinations of words that have little to do with the constituents.

Quickly, what does 'go' mean?

-----
sapere aude

by Number 6 on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 06:11:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]

look at the word "Stift" in German

it can mean pen, pencil, monastery, nail, peg, pinion, post, etc.

English doesn't even compare.

by stevesim on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 06:15:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Eh.
Except for monastery, they are all nail-shaped. Simples.

-----
sapere aude

by Number 6 on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 07:08:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I obviously cannot convince you

by stevesim on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 07:20:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]

No, I think it's potayto potatoh time.
Have fun!

-----
sapere aude

by Number 6 on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 07:38:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]

and of course geist can mean liquor too.

by IM on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 11:54:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]

In Germany, probably.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 07:44:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

But it is.

My two favorite examples:

1. Which of the following is correct:

a.) 1 + 1 = 1
b.) 1 + 1 = 2
c.) 1 + 1 = 10
d.) 1 + 1 = 20

Question B. What fundamental finding was expressed by the equation e = mc^2?

Answers:

1. All of them. Answer a) is the deductive logic AND operation, b) is decimal arithmetic, c) is binary arithmetic, d) is decimal arithmetic where the "1's" are tens.

Question B. The finding is ending of a proof of the Pythagorean Theorem done by Einstein when he was eight (IIRC.)

Information is only exact in the context of an instance of communication. Change, or morphing, the context changes, or morphs, the "exactness."

Ever since I learnt about confirmation bias I've started seeing it everywhere

by ATinNM on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 06:39:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I'm wondering whether they are going to perorate on the difference between exact and accurate answers.

Page 2, me boy:

A Question Answering (QA) system is a software system that provided exact answers to natural language questions for some range of topics. the notion of exact, in this context is ultimately a subjective measure intended to indicate that a QA system is distinguished by providing responses that contain just the information necessary to precisely answer the question intended by the user. The QA system's exact answer may be supplement with additional information, including a justification or dialog explaining why the provided answer is correct.
Another distinguishing and important characteristic of QA systems is that their accuracy and their ability to justify an answer should increase with the amount of relevant information provided in the question. They should, therefore respond more accurately and more completely to longer, denser questions, that is, to questions which provide more information about what is being asked. This behavior would suggest that QA systems rely on a deeper semantic "understanding" of the intent of the question.

IOW, no.

:-)

Ever since I learnt about confirmation bias I've started seeing it everywhere

by ATinNM on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 06:24:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Another distinguishing and important characteristic of QA systems is that their accuracy and their ability to justify an answer should increase with the amount of relevant information provided in the question. They should, therefore respond more accurately and more completely to longer, denser questions, that is, to questions which provide more information about what is being asked. This behavior would suggest that QA systems rely on a deeper semantic "understanding" of the intent of the question.

I saw that, and it had me puzzled. It is equally plausible that the more detailed the question, the shorter the answer needs to be.

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 06:26:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

You're right. But, possibly, not for the reason(s) you think.

The Hard Problem is: the detail of a question and the length of the needed answer have very little to do with each other. "Do you have a pen?" and "How does a pen work?" are both five word questions but the length of the answers will be very different.

Ever since I learnt about confirmation bias I've started seeing it everywhere

by ATinNM on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 06:50:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Thursday Open Thread (4.00 / 6)

Interfax-Religion

Moscow, November 1, Interfax - The Russian Hydro-Meteorological Center does not see any unusual phenomena, which may signal the approaching Doomsday, Center Head Roman Vilfand told Interfax on Thursday.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 02:10:48 PM EST

Are they actively looking for signs of doomsday?

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 02:20:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

well only so far as the rest of the article goes

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 03:49:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I wonder what Nomad thinks about that one.

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 02:21:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The science consensus does not currently support Doom, though we would be well advised to get our asses in gear just in case.

(But I have no business putting words in Nomad's mouth).

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 03:45:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Thursday Open Thread (4.00 / 3)

The science consensus does not currently support Doom

But Castle Wolfenstein is okay?

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 05:00:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Depends on the hardware.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 06:15:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Chapel Perilous

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 06:44:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Listen (none / 1)

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 06:55:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The Russian Hydro-Meteorological Center needs to give their green shoots a haircut to drive away all those lazy-assed bumblebees.

Ever since I learnt about confirmation bias I've started seeing it everywhere

by ATinNM on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 02:37:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Proactively.

-----
sapere aude

by Number 6 on Fri Nov 2nd, 2012 at 06:13:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Oh the importance of a comma.

</PN>

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Nov 1st, 2012 at 03:27:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]