>>> John Boone on Fuzzy Sets 
 WE> Now if I were to take apple to mean a whole apple, it wouldn't belong. 
 JB> Ok, now take, an "whole apple" but showing some signs of 
 JB> wear, rot.  Does it belong to the set "whole apple?" 
Nope, it is not whole.  To be pedantic, the short small connecting stem if 
attached, cannot be broken. -)
 JB> For example, in smelting, it might take temperature 
 JB> to be raised "a bit" to increase efficiency.  How much 
 JB> is "a bit" on the Temperature scale? 
This is a classic application, but alas, I've just glanced at it.  Public 
library is weak on this topic.  If you have a detailed description of a 
thermostat control application we could eke out an answer.  That would be an 
excellent fuzzy start for us.
 
 WE> Consider also green apples.
 JB> I see you took my example . 
Racer who jumps the gun is off to a fuzzy start? -)
 JB> Kosko, makes the point, fuzzy allows us say a glass belongs 
 JB> to the set "cup" a bit while belong to the set "glass" more. 
Indeed, but ask him to tell you about buckets and leaky cups and how big of a 
hole my fuzzy bucket may have and if a tube is nearly a bucket with a hole 
for the bottom and hence a fuzzy cup.  Now consider a tall and narrow bucket 
with a hole for the bottom, what degree of cup would you assign to a hose? -) 
 How about the saucer?  How about a flat disk which is a cup with just the 
bottom remaining?  Ask him to assign precise degrees of cuppishness.  
Language can always outstrip the precise syntactics of mathematics.  Is there 
something paradoxical about assigning a -precise- degree of whateverness to a 
fuzzy notion of -somewhat- like the whatever. -)
... from the marsh, the freshest of stagnate water.
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