Everything is a Matter of Degree: The Main Idea Behind Fuzzy Logic is Useful in Geosciences and in Authorship

Servin C.; Velasco A.; Rodriguez Velasquez E.D.; Kreinovich V. · Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems (2023) · DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-46778-3_20

Resumen

This paper presents two applications of the general principle – the everything is a matter of degree – the principle that underlies fuzzy techniques. The first – qualitative – application helps explain the fact that while most earthquakes occur close to faults (borders between tectonic plates or terranes), earthquakes have also been observed in areas which are far away from the known faults. The second – more quantitative – application is to the problem of which of the collaborators should be listed as authors and which should be simply thanked in the paper. We argue that the best answer to this question is to explicitly state the degree of authorship – in contrast to the usual yes-no approach. We also show how to take into account that this degree can be estimated only with some uncertainty – i.e., that we need to deal with interval-valued degrees.

Instituciones: Universidad de Piura