3 ms·

"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." I'm sure Boole approved of that. Fascinating how these two

"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." I'm sure Boole approved of that. Fascinating how these two contemporaries achieved immortal fame through completely different disciplines. I wonder if in 100+ years people will rememeber prominent writers or scientists of this age?

jacobush 8y ago
At least the giants, like Jacqueline Susann and Harold Robbins.
- kksskkss 8y ago
  Never heard of those and I do read a lot so they hardly qualify as giants even though they have had their share of success. Stephen King, on the other hand, is probably not going to be forgotten any time soon (I find his books dull tbh but nobody cares about my opinion :).
  - mijamo 8y ago
    Posterity does not work like that. Many authors who were popular disappeared completely from memory, while other who were relatively unknown became extremely popular decades after their death. Academics play a major role in what we remember about more than 100 years ago, much more than actual success when the book was published. Octave Mirbeau was much much more popular than Marcel Proust when they were both active, but you probably know much more about the latter.
- thrower123 8y ago
  Who the hell are they? Honestly, Conan Doyle is a Victorian Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum, rather than any high-falutin literary author. That's a big part of why he is still remembered.
- BaryonBundle 8y ago
  I believe this to be a reference to a quote from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
ysr23 8y ago
"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." is that the actual quote? Maybe not enough coffee on my part but i am having difficulty with it. By eliminating impossible, which strikes me a fairly redundant thing to do, we are left with probable and improbable? Your post could have been written by: - Kurtz79 (probable) - Marlow79 using your login for REASONS (possible but improbable) - Elon Musk using your login for REASONS(possible but improbable) - Stephen Hawking (impossible) - Queen Victoria (impossible) etc ... do we really need to eliminate all the impossible? i'm not sure it really moves us along finding the OP, even if we do.
- YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago
  That's a very good point, however eliminating the impossible (or just improbable) is a necessary first step towards finding "the truth". Then all you need is a good prior, to allow you to tell the truth from the nontruth. And the er, simplest prior is the Occamist prior- that the simplest explanation is the most likely to be true. Going by which, Kurtz79 is the most likely author of the post above, since that's the simplest explanation that is not impossible (or improbable). Edit: it's "simplest" in the sense it doesn't require REASONS.

jacobush 8y ago

At least the giants, like Jacqueline Susann and Harold Robbins.

kksskkss 8y ago
Never heard of those and I do read a lot so they hardly qualify as giants even though they have had their share of success. Stephen King, on the other hand, is probably not going to be forgotten any time soon (I find his books dull tbh but nobody cares about my opinion :).
- mijamo 8y ago
  Posterity does not work like that. Many authors who were popular disappeared completely from memory, while other who were relatively unknown became extremely popular decades after their death. Academics play a major role in what we remember about more than 100 years ago, much more than actual success when the book was published. Octave Mirbeau was much much more popular than Marcel Proust when they were both active, but you probably know much more about the latter.
thrower123 8y ago
Who the hell are they? Honestly, Conan Doyle is a Victorian Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum, rather than any high-falutin literary author. That's a big part of why he is still remembered.
BaryonBundle 8y ago
I believe this to be a reference to a quote from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

ysr23 8y ago

"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." is that the actual quote? Maybe not enough coffee on my part but i am having difficulty with it. By eliminating impossible, which strikes me a fairly redundant thing to do, we are left with probable and improbable? Your post could have been written by: - Kurtz79 (probable) - Marlow79 using your login for REASONS (possible but improbable) - Elon Musk using your login for REASONS(possible but improbable) - Stephen Hawking (impossible) - Queen Victoria (impossible) etc ... do we really need to eliminate all the impossible? i'm not sure it really moves us along finding the OP, even if we do.

YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago
That's a very good point, however eliminating the impossible (or just improbable) is a necessary first step towards finding "the truth". Then all you need is a good prior, to allow you to tell the truth from the nontruth. And the er, simplest prior is the Occamist prior- that the simplest explanation is the most likely to be true. Going by which, Kurtz79 is the most likely author of the post above, since that's the simplest explanation that is not impossible (or improbable). Edit: it's "simplest" in the sense it doesn't require REASONS.