Just guessing but perhaps your post is being downvoted because of a fundamental misunderstanding of the word "art", followed by "just plug the numbers into your

Just guessing but perhaps your post is being downvoted because of a fundamental misunderstanding of the word "art", followed by "just plug the numbers into your GPS". "As much an art as a science" does not mean "there is no science and it's all made up", it means the science is so involved that a layman would struggle to understand it and even someone trained in the practice sometimes needs to rely on experience and muscle memory more than a hard rule book. "As much an art as a science" means you can't just be taught how to do it without practical examples. Everything you've mentioned in your experience (holding yourself accountable, analytical processes, etc) is the definition of "as much an art as a science". If it was just science with no art, you wouldn't need to hold yourself accountable. You'd just follow the rule book and be completely assured you'd make it to your destination. "Art" in this sentence means "technical problem solving", from an archaic definition of "art" which means "technics". [1] You seem to have interpreted the word "art" as something lesser than science, then went on to redefine science as meaning exactly the same thing as art in this situation. Maybe think of the phrase as "it's just as much practical knowledge as it is academic". That's how we would phrase the same thing in modern English. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Useful_art https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Useful_art