David Cressey wrote:
> Paul C. said that he's still far from a database expert. So am I. But
> I've been learning, since about 1980.
>
> Over time (a long time!) I've noticed a pattern in the growth of my
> knowledge.
>
> If my knowledge base is likened to a sphere in a boundless universe, here's
> the pattern:
>
> My apparent knowledge grows like the radius of the sphere (like R).
> My apparent ignorance grows like the surface area of the sphere (like R
> squared).
> And the number of things I must keep in my head grows like the volume of the
> sphere (like R cubed).
>
> At some point, this looks like a case of diminishing marginal returns. But
> I wouldn't choose to go back to being as ignorant as I was when I was
> twenty, even if I got to be as smart as I was when I was twenty.
>
Close, but:
Area of a sphere = 4 pi r^2
Volume of a sphere = 4/3 pi r^3
Received on Tue Dec 13 2005 - 18:56:08 CST
