Newsgroups: comp.ai
Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watdragon!violet!cpshelley
From: cpshelley@violet.uwaterloo.ca (cameron shelley)
Subject: Re: What is "fuzzy logic"?
Message-ID: <1991Mar29.195535.16601@watdragon.waterloo.edu>
Sender: daemon@watdragon.waterloo.edu (Owner of Many System Processes)
Organization: University of Waterloo
References: <1991Mar28.192533.3272@waikato.ac.nz> <13842@ccncsu.ColoState.EDU>
Date: Fri, 29 Mar 1991 19:55:35 GMT
Lines: 42

In article <13842@ccncsu.ColoState.EDU> ah314368@longs.LANCE.ColoState.EDU (Vincent Huffaker) writes:
[...]
>Recently, I've also been wondering about fuzzy logic and just what it is. 
>There's been an incredible amount of hype about it.  If a reporter doesn't 
>understand the logic behind something, it suddenly becomes "fuzzy-logic".
>According to all the sources, Japan loves it and America doesn't care about 
>it (so, of course, America is behind).  There's supposed to be new 
>cameras coming out that use "fuzzy-logic" for their auto-focusing mechanisms.
[...]
>So, in order to give something that people can respond to (I'm really
>curious about what fuzzy-logic really is), I make the following claim:
>
>Fuzzy-logic is essentially conditional logic but with a well-defined
>method (I don't know what it is) for applying operators (like 'and' or 'or')
>to statements with multiple probabilistic dependencies.
>
>Any comments?  (I hope so.)

I don't have any more insight than you on this, but I can tell you what I
surmised from a talk Lofti Zadeh ("Mr. Fuzzy Logic") gave here a few
weeks ago.

It seems that fuzzy logic is an ontological go-between from `classical'
logic and probability.  Classical logic is (among other things) a system
for dealing with objects by assigning them values from a discrete set
(usually two --- binary logic).  Probability is a system which deals with
objects by assigning them values from a continuous set (bounded between
real values 0 and 1).  From what Dr. Zadeh said, fuzzy logic is an attempt
at a system to deal with objects by assigning them values from a `large'
discrete set but without a well-definable order relation (such as "<" in
probability).

If this sounds obscure, then I can at least say I've accurately 
communicated my current mental state on the subject. :-)

				Cam

--
      Cameron Shelley        | "Belladonna, n.  In Italian a beautiful lady;
cpshelley@violet.waterloo.edu|  in English a deadly poison.  A striking example
    Davis Centre Rm 2136     |  of the essential identity of the two tongues."
 Phone (519) 885-1211 x3390  |				Ambrose Bierce