Category: Theory

Facts are connected in one of two ways — “is” or “has”. On the is side, things are grouped and categorized according to their features. On the has side, those features are spelled out. Has captures details; Is describes patterns derived from those details. Is holds only groups or categories; everything else is Has. In fact, a better way to label these two axes is Is and Everything else. If we were to diagram our facts, we could put Is on the vertical axis and Has (“Everything else”) on the horizontal axis.

Knowledge, at its core, is simply a description of one thing in terms of another. Jane is a person, Jane lives in Boston. We call the verb “transitive” in these cases because there is an object (“person”) to go along with the subject. But Jane can participate in activities on her own — Jane works, Jane sleeps. We call the verb “intransitive” for those statements, but they belie the fact that a lot is going on underneath — Jane works at a company, Jane performs a task at that company, Jane’s shift begins at a certain time and ends at a later time, etc. Ultimately, all knowledge involves linking one thing to another.

Factango demonstrates how you can step from one thing to another through a succession of interlinked facts. Go there and enter something in the Find field at top. Then click on any of the words below and move from one thing to another, from one fact to another. One thing is connected to another.