4 ms·

I think this extends to jargon from scientific fields in general–e.g. "on the margin" from economics, "failure mode" from engineering, "significant" vs "substan

I think this extends to jargon from scientific fields in general–e.g. "on the margin" from economics, "failure mode" from engineering, "significant" vs "substantial" (statistics), "system 1/system 2" (psychology), etc.

hacker42 10y ago
See also 100+ Concepts To Add To Your Cognitive Toolkit (including all comments): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10819355 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10819355
Aelinsaar 10y ago
Signal v. Noise is also priceless.
noonespecial 10y ago
Every discipline and even hobbyist/fan-group seems to have their own little “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra”s. See.
yyhhsj0521 10y ago
Just curious, what's the difference between significant and substantial?
- bunderbunder 10y ago
  Significant, as in "statistically significant", usually that you've got sufficient evidence to conclude that your result is not simply due to random chance. Substantial means that your result is big enough to have any practical import. In other words, is there any substance to the result? For an example of a result that is significant but not substantial, suppose you find after surveying millions of people that members of demographic group X score 1/10 point higher than average on an IQ test. For an example of a result that is substantial but not significant, sales figures are often so variable that it's impossible to determine with confidence whether even a 100% jump in revenues is due to a recent ad campaign or just a random fluke.
- dogmatix 10y ago
  Significant - it matters. Substantial - of large magnitude.
adrianratnapala 10y ago
This is true, but mathematical jargon is more broadly applicable. (Though at this level of detail I would roll stats in with probabilty and hence pretend it is part of maths). I've been a physicist and am now a software engineer. I can use the maths based jargon in both those fields, but not vice versa. That's partly because everyone in a STEM field had to learn at least some maths. But more importantly: maths is about the logical interconnection of things, while the things themselves are substitutable. So it is no suprise that its jargon can be applied in many fields.
- unexistance 10y ago
  https://xkcd.com/435/ https://xkcd.com/435/ Made me remember this. If only the 'upper' fields adopt mathematical naming where applicable :D

hacker42 10y ago

See also 100+ Concepts To Add To Your Cognitive Toolkit (including all comments): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10819355 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10819355

Aelinsaar 10y ago

Signal v. Noise is also priceless.

noonespecial 10y ago

Every discipline and even hobbyist/fan-group seems to have their own little “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra”s. See.

yyhhsj0521 10y ago

Just curious, what's the difference between significant and substantial?

bunderbunder 10y ago
Significant, as in "statistically significant", usually that you've got sufficient evidence to conclude that your result is not simply due to random chance. Substantial means that your result is big enough to have any practical import. In other words, is there any substance to the result? For an example of a result that is significant but not substantial, suppose you find after surveying millions of people that members of demographic group X score 1/10 point higher than average on an IQ test. For an example of a result that is substantial but not significant, sales figures are often so variable that it's impossible to determine with confidence whether even a 100% jump in revenues is due to a recent ad campaign or just a random fluke.
dogmatix 10y ago
Significant - it matters. Substantial - of large magnitude.

adrianratnapala 10y ago

This is true, but mathematical jargon is more broadly applicable. (Though at this level of detail I would roll stats in with probabilty and hence pretend it is part of maths). I've been a physicist and am now a software engineer. I can use the maths based jargon in both those fields, but not vice versa. That's partly because everyone in a STEM field had to learn at least some maths. But more importantly: maths is about the logical interconnection of things, while the things themselves are substitutable. So it is no suprise that its jargon can be applied in many fields.

unexistance 10y ago
https://xkcd.com/435/ https://xkcd.com/435/ Made me remember this. If only the 'upper' fields adopt mathematical naming where applicable :D