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John McCarthy on the importance of doing the math

22 points by sabalaba 16y ago

sabalaba 16y ago
A few paragraphs on the importance of running the numbers in any discussion. Part of his greater series on human sustainability and progress (http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/index.html http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/index.html) [WARNING: epic material]. excerpt: """ Many questions can be settled by recourse to available statistics and arithmetic - arithmetic not higher mathematics, although higher mathematics is also useful. The converse is that failing to look up statistics and do the arithmetic is a recipe for ignorance. """
JoachimSchipper 16y ago
[Not intending to start a flamewar...] I was surprised to see that "acre-feet" were, apparently, not intended as a parody of the Imperial system.
- RiderOfGiraffes 16y ago
  No, "acre-feet" is an actual measure of large volumes of water. ADDED IN EDIT: One acre-foot is 1233481.84 litres. That's 325851.429 US gallons, or 271327.96 imperial gallons.
  - jpr 16y ago
    For some values of "actual". I think these kinds of retarded units are one reason for not doing the arithmetic.
    - hga 16y ago
      Errr, no, acre-feet is this domain the unit of measurement for water in the US. At least west of the Mississippi (west of the first line of states it gets quite dry and everything changes, including the system of law about water).
RiderOfGiraffes 16y ago
Why did you change the title? Look ... + The URL ends in arithmetic + The title of the article is > GETTING THE NUMBERS AND DOING THE ARITHMETIC + The last paragraph says: > "Many questions can be settled by recourse to > available statistics and arithmetic - arithmetic > not higher mathematics ... " Why did you claim it's about math? It's not, it's about arithmetic. </rant>
- hga 16y ago
  "Do the math" is a standard phrase for doing the sort of thing McCarthy advocates. He also has a great "test" of sorts that he uses on classes involving the putative fate of a doctor who developed the ability to heal anyone by touching them, it's in a delightful book that profiles him and two other smart people.

22 points by sabalaba 16y ago

A few paragraphs on the importance of running the numbers in any discussion. Part of his greater series on human sustainability and progress (http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/index.html http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/index.html) [WARNING: epic material]. excerpt: """ Many questions can be settled by recourse to available statistics and arithmetic - arithmetic not higher mathematics, although higher mathematics is also useful. The converse is that failing to look up statistics and do the arithmetic is a recipe for ignorance. """

JoachimSchipper 16y ago

[Not intending to start a flamewar...] I was surprised to see that "acre-feet" were, apparently, not intended as a parody of the Imperial system.

RiderOfGiraffes 16y ago
No, "acre-feet" is an actual measure of large volumes of water. ADDED IN EDIT: One acre-foot is 1233481.84 litres. That's 325851.429 US gallons, or 271327.96 imperial gallons.
- jpr 16y ago
  For some values of "actual". I think these kinds of retarded units are one reason for not doing the arithmetic.
  - hga 16y ago
    Errr, no, acre-feet is this domain the unit of measurement for water in the US. At least west of the Mississippi (west of the first line of states it gets quite dry and everything changes, including the system of law about water).

RiderOfGiraffes 16y ago

Why did you change the title? Look ... + The URL ends in arithmetic + The title of the article is > GETTING THE NUMBERS AND DOING THE ARITHMETIC + The last paragraph says: > "Many questions can be settled by recourse to > available statistics and arithmetic - arithmetic > not higher mathematics ... " Why did you claim it's about math? It's not, it's about arithmetic. </rant>

hga 16y ago
"Do the math" is a standard phrase for doing the sort of thing McCarthy advocates. He also has a great "test" of sorts that he uses on classes involving the putative fate of a doctor who developed the ability to heal anyone by touching them, it's in a delightful book that profiles him and two other smart people.