4 ms·
It is a disgrace to intellect when scientific knowledge comes with references to magic (even in quotes). Can't we just say "exact", "proper", "special", " speci
by gtsop 4y ago
It is a disgrace to intellect when scientific knowledge comes with references to magic (even in quotes). Can't we just say "exact", "proper", "special", " specific", "just right"? Why magic?
- ben_w 4y agoIf I say during a code review that "magic numbers should be documented", I expect the other person to know the phrase and not think I'm talking about The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage. I expect similar things in other domains.
- willis936 4y agoThe term "magic number" pops up in many domains. Often it's because the underlying mechanism that yields the empirical result is unknown. If that's the case here then that context should not be lost because of a semantics argument.
- DennisP 4y ago"Magic" doesn't necessarily mean supernatural. Google quotes the Oxford English dictionary to include these definitions: - something that has a delightfully unusual quality. - very effective in producing results, especially desired ones. I think those definitions make "magic" a better term in this case than any of your alternatives.