[LINK] Points, lines & curves

[Kim Holburn]

On 2011/Feb/13, at 10:55 AM, Jan Whitaker wrote:

> At 09:30 AM 13/02/2011, David Boxall wrote:
>> In the NBN debate, it seems to me that curve people are the ones who see
>> the logic - and ultimate economy - in fibre.
>> 
>> There are lessons here on our understanding of human population, water,
>> air & soil degradation and global warming, but they're debates for other
>> fora.
> 
> Interesting description of worldview. It somewhat equates to people 
> who understand dimensional data representation: linear, matrix and 
> database. I can do the first two quite easily (think a flat file 
> document versus a spreadsheet). Where I lose confidence is with 
> relational databases.
> 
> But I did get the answer to the exponential problem because I worked 
> the logic backwards. That's fine for analysis after the fact. You 
> know the result: the rats filled the room at a particular time. (What 
> wasn't said was that was the exact time that the room filled and 
> there was an absolute filling and rats don't squash, because if they 
> did, the filling could have happened before the 1pm time given.) But 
> in the real world, we don't know the end point of that filling. So 
> then the whole thing falls into a risk management and diversification 
> of investment space.

Actually the first view is the only correct one.  There is not enough information.  There is an old quote from physics, possibly a quote from Einstein, which I don't remember the exact words of saying something like:  

"If you can solve a mathematical problem it is trivial.  If it is a real world problem, you can't solve it."  

Or as someone paraphrased:

Physics, inasmuch as it is an accurate representation of reality is rarely simple, and when it is simple, is rarely accurate.


You can't fill a room with live reproducing rats.  You probably can't even fill the floor of a room with live rats for any length of time and certainly not by expansion.  (You could take a large group of rats and put them in the room - ie concentrate them - but that's something else. 

There aren't three kinds of people.  (Watch out or I'll tell you my two kinds of people jokes.)


-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
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