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The problem seems to be that they didn't know exactly what they looking for, or how to describe the set of acceptable clay-like substances. This is an physical
by gohrt 12y ago
The problem seems to be that they didn't know exactly what they looking for, or how to describe the set of acceptable clay-like substances.
This is an physical-science example of the "justification problem" -- chemistry isn't computer science, we don't design all out components from the elemental level; we discover and hack molecules, and identify them by interpreting their behaviors (boiling point, what color smoke is produced when mixed with some other stuff, etc) , and then we slap on a label that we hope is correct). It's all a very statistical science, not irrefutable logic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regress_argument http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regress_argument
- lotsofmangos 12y agohow to describe the set of acceptable clay-like substances. Given the context, I would have hoped something involving a mass spectrometer or something similar rather than buying something purely on the basis that it is known to have the property of being suitable for cats to urinate into and then hoping that they don't ever change the mixture on any products in the range.
- timr 12y agoI bet the thinking was something along the lines of "kitty litter is an inert absorptive material", and nobody really thought much about the differences between types of kitty litter, and whether or not they were truly inert.
- InclinedPlane 12y agoYou realize that you've just described the way 99% of software engineering works in the real world, right?