On Definitions LO23853

From: psue@inforamp.net
Date: 01/29/00


Replying to LO23833 --

John F. Zavacki wrote:

>Both theory and practice, as well as entropy, learning, thinking, are very
>well defined. What needs to be understood here is that they need more and
>constant explanation until someone hits on the simplest and most elegant
>phrase. Then the theory will be well written.

Thank you John. In past posts, I've argued that we should use the
dictionary definition for terms that we use - let's not waste energy on
something that has already been figured out (the question becomes - which
dictionary?, but I think it isn't such a big issue).

Your definition of "well written" seems very close to the concept of
Ockham's (also spelled as Occam's) Razor, which is "the simplest or most
obvious explanation of several competing ones is the one that should be
preferred until it is proven wrong." [Definition found at www.whatis.com,
under "O"]

[Host's Note: Another statement of Ockham's Razor is "Additional detail in
an explanation should be worth it... Otherwise, use a simpler
explanation." ..Rick]

-- 

"Patrick Sue" <psue@inforamp.net>

Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>


"Learning-org" and the format of our message identifiers (LO1234, etc.) are trademarks of Richard Karash.