3 ms·
I think this was a joke, but I hope no one has ever made any assessment or decision of any sort on the basis of this quip (incidentally, not Einstein's[1]). Th
by aamar 16y ago
I think this was a joke, but I hope no one has ever made any assessment or decision of any sort on the basis of this quip (incidentally, not Einstein's[1]).
This, of course, is not the definition of insanity, nor is it a remotely good proxy. Doing things over and over again -- whether chopping at that tree or going to the gym or working on a difficult problem -- should absolutely yield different results. All actions accumulate, some more than others.
[1] http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rita_Mae_Brown http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rita_Mae_Brown
- light3 16y agoI always thought of the 'different result' as meaning improvement, and the action in repetition as being suboptimal. Thereby no matter how much you practice you will be at best improving sub-optimally. This makes particular sense when you're practicing a musical instrument, bad habits will be more and more engraved as you repeat more. The best instrument players are those who have been taught or self-discovered good ways to improve, and put in the hard practice/repetition.