Keeping Up With Data #110. 5 minutes for 5 hours' worth of reading

From my studies of general mathematics I know that objects are defined by their properties, not names. Semantics matters, and what's better to clarify a meaning than a formula codifying a definition? In many companies, people casually use terms like customer, product, transaction, sale, without common agreement on the details. How many times have we discussed who is a customer at various meetings? These conversations get even trickier when colleagues from different departments are involved and share their point of view.