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"When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is
by acangiano 16y ago
"When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong."
— Arthur C. Clarke's First Law
- lemming 16y agoTo be fair, he doesn't so much say it's impossible as say it's a bad idea.
- bh42 16y agoExactly. The grandparent's comment is anything but relevant. While I do agree with it, it is clear it has nothing do with this.
- jdp23 16y agoDijkstra said this in 1978, so he was only 48 at the time.
- joshes 16y agoOne could argue that he was an elder with respect to his field at that time.
- lkozma 16y agoThis holds for everyone, not just elderly scientists. Impossibility proofs are by their nature more difficult than existence proofs.
- gryan 16y agoArthur C. Clarke: Science fiction writer. E.W. Dijkstra: Actual computer scientist.
- jmaygarden 16y agoClarke was no technical slouch! http://lakdiva.org/clarke/1945ww/ http://lakdiva.org/clarke/1945ww/