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In practice people seem to be very bad at remembering that. Pretty universally people act as though doing math on made up numbers makes them less erroneous rath
by plorkyeran 1y ago
In practice people seem to be very bad at remembering that. Pretty universally people act as though doing math on made up numbers makes them less erroneous rather than more.
- widforss 1y agoThat's the whole point of Fermi estimates. Find a plausible number given uncertain inputs.
- chrisweekly 1y agoYeah, mistaking precision for accuracy is a common fallacy.
- JadeNB 1y ago> Yeah, mistaking precision for accuracy is a common fallacy. I remember an appealing description of the difference being that a precise archer might sink all their arrows at the same spot on the edge of the target, whereas an accurate archer might sink all their arrows near the bull's eye without always hitting the same spot.