Re: Pizza Example

In message <0LQgc.9749$kF5.6280_at_newssvr31.news.prodigy.com>, Eric Kaun <ekaun_at_yahoo.com> writes
>> And, for example with optimisation, if you gamble on that being the case
>> then you will win big nine times out of ten.
>
>Discussions of gambling in the context of data design are somewhat
>misplaced. Last I knew, we were trying to create order from chaos, not
>systematize the chaos.

"In the battle between order and chaos, chaos will always win because it is better organised" :-)

I'm getting to grips with this - CAN you create order from chaos? Is it even possible? Mathematics ignores the question, but I suspect the law of entropy gives a resounding NO as the answer.

Anyway, there's gambling on a hunch, and gambling on a dead cert. Betting shops only gamble on dead certs - they've done the statistics to prove it. Same with Pick :-)

Cheers,
Wol

-- 
Anthony W. Youngman - wol at thewolery dot demon dot co dot uk
HEX wondered how much he should tell the Wizards. He felt it would not be a
good idea to burden them with too much input. Hex always thought of his reports
as Lies-to-People.
The Science of Discworld : (c) Terry Pratchett 1999