change
Let an agent handle change and gradients by quantity, measurement and interpretation, avoiding confusion between absolute, relative and rate-based changes.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Measure How much change.
Absolute
Difference.
Absolute
Absolute change.
- What is the absolute change between the two states? measurement
- In which units? definition
Relative
Percentage.
Relative
Relative change.
- What is the relative or percentage change? measurement
- Is the baseline appropriate? boundary
Gradients Spatial change.
Gradient
Slope.
Gradient
Gradient.
- What is the gradient over this distance? measurement
- Which direction is it steepest? definition
Processes
Flows.
Processes
Driven processes.
- Which process does this gradient drive, such as diffusion? definition
- How fast? measurement
Interpretation Trends.
Trend
Signal versus noise.
Trend
Trend.
- Is the change a real trend or random variation? boundary
- Which statistical test applies? provenance
Visual
Charts.
Visual
Visualisation.
- Does the chart present the change fairly? boundary
- Is the axis truncated? boundary
Senses Disambiguation.
Money
Coins returned.
Money
Money sense.
- Is change as returned money or coins meant? boundary
- Which entry fits? action
Social
Social change.
Social
Social change.
- Is social or organisational change meant? boundary
- Which entry fits? action
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Cross-cutting context
- Entry kind
- noun.relation
- Plane
- XCT
- Domain
- XCT.REL
- Facets: substance
- abstract
- Facets: origin
- conceptual
- Facets: agency
- inert
- Facets: mobility
- not-applicable
- Facets: scale
- not-applicable
- Facets: affordances
- observable
- Other names and narrower kinds
- difference, gradient, concentration gradient, gravity gradient, temperature gradient
What it is Filled
A relational difference between states, especially before and after an event, or across space, such as a gradient in temperature, concentration or gravity; measured as absolute or relative change, rate of change or spatial gradient.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent handle change and gradients by quantity, measurement and interpretation, avoiding confusion between absolute, relative and rate-based changes.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Difference between states
- Temporal or spatial
- Absolute or relative
- Drives processes such as diffusion
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Confuse percent change with a change in percentage points.
- Choose a baseline or time window to make a change look larger or smaller than it is.
- Present random fluctuation as a trend.
- Imply that a change was caused by something without evidence.
Only with a human decision
- Publishing figures of change that will inform a public or medical decision.
May
- Calculate and report change as absolute, relative or rate, stating the baseline used.
- Separate measured change from noise and state the uncertainty.
Moral aspects Filled
- Misreported change misleads people about risk, prices and policy results.
Who is affected
- Readers of statistics
- People affected by decisions based on them
Owners Filled
Steward
Nobody owns the concept; whoever publishes a figure answers for it.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- oewn-00032220-n - registry parent class
related
- relation - category
- percentage and derivative - measures
- diffusion and heat flow - processes
- magnitude relation - comparison
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.change-relation
- Open English WordNet: oewn-13881240-n
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Plane XCT: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- Before and after values
- Gradients and slopes
- Money given back as change is a different sense
- Not physical; seen in comparisons, slopes and maps.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- compute absolute and relative change
- compute gradients and rates of change
- interpret trends carefully
- visualise change clearly
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Confusing percent and percentage points
- Misleading baselines
- Mistaking noise for trend
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- ISO 80000 quantities
Context of use required Filled
- Describing differences over time and space in science and data.
- absolute change
- relative and percentage change
- rate of change
- spatial gradients
- concentration and temperature gradients
Sources Filled
- Open English WordNet 2024, synset oewn-13881240-n - sense and gloss of the concept
- Wiktionary: change - word senses and usage
Open questions
- Should gradient types be separate entries?
- How should change metrics be linked?
- How should the money sense be split off?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-change-relation/spec.json