Re: Date's First Great Blunder

In message <c0e3f26e.0404160522.6516963f_at_posting.google.com>, Tony <andrewst_at_onetel.net.uk> writes
>"Anthony W. Youngman" <wol_at_thewolery.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
>news:<eV3gOEFrCvfAFwxo_at_thewolery.demon.co.uk>...
>> Newtonian Mechanics is mathematics. It's consistent. Unfortunately, it
>> doesn't tally with reality :-(
>
>Ah yes, Newtonian Mechanics - what a failure that was! Any attempt to
>use that in the real world is doomed to failure. No wonder they don't
>teach that old rubbish in schools these days ;-)
>
>On the other hand, to quote Wikipedia:
>
<snip quote>
>
>In other words, it DOES tally with reality except in esoteric domains
>outside the realm of everyday life.

And if you are unaware of that last little fact of yours, then at some point you run the serious risk of getting badly burnt.

It is important to know, not only that your model (mostly) works, but more importantly to know how to predict its failure, lest that failure occur at a critical moment for you.

Your maths may work for your problems. So you apply it to someone else's problems. Unfortunately, you have no guarantee that his "everyday life" does not match your "esoteric domain".

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