3 ms·
Take it as a synonym for "order of magnitude" and make your peace with the term? In scientific (aka exponential) representation, the exponent is actually higher
by dukoid 6y ago
Take it as a synonym for "order of magnitude" and make your peace with the term? In scientific (aka exponential) representation, the exponent is actually higher in this case...
- DC-3 6y agoI think it's worth trying to be prescriptivist here. Exponentiality is a specific, important phenomenon, and it frustrates me to see language diluted in this way. I wouldn't care in the context of a reddit post, but NPR should know better.
- quickthrowman 6y agoNPR should know better and only use the rigorous mathematical definition of the term exponentiality? If they would’ve said “an order of magnitude higher”, you would be bitching that 8x higher isn’t even a single order of magnitude. You just want to complain. Words have flexible definitions outside of academics and science, let it go. It saddens me when pedantry is the top comment on an HN post.
- DC-3 6y agoI refer you to my previous reply: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23311027 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23311027
- caseysoftware 6y agoConsidering this article is specifically about the math and numbers behind the situation, we need them to use the numbers and terminology correctly.