Count quotes

W_Bruce_Cameron

Counts

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”

• Source: William Bruce Cameron, “Informal Sociology, a Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking”, Page 13, Random House, New York. 1963.

• Note: Often incorrectly attributed to Albert Einstein.

• See Also:
  • Albert_Einstein_quotes/Not_Everything_Counts
  • https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/26/everything-counts-einstein
  • W_Bruce_Cameron_quotes
  • W_Bruce_Cameron_quotes/Counts

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Keywords: Everything_quotes Count_quotes

Edsger_Wybe_Dijkstra

Lines of Code

“My point today is that, if we wish to count lines of code, we should not regard them as 'lines produced' but as 'lines spent': the current conventional wisdom is so foolish as to book that count on the wrong side of the ledger.”

• Source: Dijkstra (1988) On the cruelty of really teaching computing science (EWD1036). Retrieved 2022 from http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD10xx/EWD1036.html

• See Also:
  • Edsger_Wybe_Dijkstra_quotes
  • Edsger_Wybe_Dijkstra_quotes/Lines_of_Code

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Keywords: Metric_quotes Code_quotes Line_quotes Programming_quotes Production_quotes Spending_quotes Wisdom_quotes Ledger_quotes Wish_quotes Count_quotes Regard_quotes Convention_quotes Foolish_quotes Book_quotes Wrong_quotes Side_quotes

Albert_Einstein

Not Everything Counts

“Not everything that can be counted, counts. Not everything that counts can be counted.”

• Source:
  • Probably misattributed to Einstein. William Bruce Cameron is more likely the original source.

• See Also:
  • https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/26/everything-counts-einstein
  • W_Bruce_Cameron_quotes/Counts
  • Albert_Einstein_quotes
  • Albert_Einstein_quotes/Not_Everything_Counts

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Keywords: Mathematics_quotes Values_quotes Count_quotes

Karl_Popper

Confirmation Easy

“It is easy to obtain confirmations, or verifications, for nearly every theory — if we look for confirmations. Confirmations should count only if they are the result of risky predictions... A theory which is not refutable by any conceivable event is non-scientific. Irrefutability is not a virtue of a theory (as people often think) but a vice. Every genuine test of a theory is an attempt to falsify it, or refute it.”

• Source: Karl Raimund Popper, Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge (1963), 36.

• See Also:
  • Karl_Popper_quotes
  • Karl_Popper_quotes/Confirmation_Easy

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Keywords: Easy_quotes Obtain_quotes Confirmation_quotes Verification_quotes Theory_quotes Count_quotes Result_quotes Risk_quotes Prediction_quotes Refutation_quotes Conceivable_quotes Event_quotes Science_quotes Falsification_quotes Irrefutability_quotes Virtue_quotes People_quotes Thinking_quotes Vice_quotes Genuine_quotes Testing_quotes Attempt_quotes

Considerations

“These considerations led me in the winter of 1919-20 to conclusions which I may now reformulate as follows.
1. Confirmation is easy.
2. Only risky predictions should count.
3. A good theory is a prohibition.
4. A theory which is not refutable is not scientific.
5. A genuine test is an attempt to falsify a theory.
6. Confirming evidence should not count unless it attempted to falsify.
7. Some genuine testable theories, when found to be false, are still upheld by their admirers.”

• Source: Popper, K. R. (1963). Science as Falsifiability. In (Poper, 1963) Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge. Routledge. London UK. Retrieved from http://worthylab.tamu.edu/Courses_files/Popper_ConjecturesandRefutations.pdf

• See Also:
  • Karl_Popper_quotes
  • Karl_Popper_quotes/Considerations

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Keywords: Consideration_quotes Conclusion_quotes Reformulate_quotes Confirmation_quotes Easy_quotes Risk_quotes Prediction_quotes Count_quotes Good_quotes Theory_quotes Prohibition_quotes Refutation_quotes Science_quotes Genuine_quotes Testing_quotes Attempt_quotes Falsification_quotes Evidence_quotes False_quotes Uphold_quotes Admire_quotes

Carl_Sagan

Extraordinary Claims

“What counts is not what sounds plausible, not what we would like to believe, not what one or two witnesses claim, but only what is supported by hard evidence rigorously and skeptically examined. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”

• Source: Carl Sagan, Cosmos: Encyclopedia Galactica, (video program), Episode 12
  • Sagan, C., Druyan, A., & Soter, S. (Writers) (1980). Encyclopedia galactica [Television series episode]. In Andorfer, G. & McCain R. (Executive Producers), Cosmos. Los Angeles, CA: PBS.
  • Online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f77B2gRZhSo at about 1:00.

• See Also:
  • Carl_Sagan_quotes
  • Carl_Sagan_quotes/Extraordinary_Claims

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Keywords: Count_quotes Sound_quotes Plausible_quotes Like_quotes Preference_quotes Belief_quotes Witness_quotes Claim_quotes Support_quotes Hard_quotes Evidence_quotes Rigorous_quotes Skepticism_quotes Examination_quotes Extraordinary_quotes Requirements_quotes Bias_quotes

Mark_Seemann

Stroll

“I’ve lost count of the number of times I return to a problem after a stroll, only to realize that I’ve been thinking about it the wrong way. If walking about for a few minutes isn’t enough, try asking for help. If you have a colleague to bother, do that.”

• Source: Mark Seemann, “Code That Fits in Your Head: Heuristics for Software Engineering”. Published in 2021 by Pearson Education, Kindle Edition, ISBN: 978-0-13-746440-1. Page 239.

• See Also:
  • Mark_Seemann_quotes
  • Mark_Seemann_quotes/Stroll

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Keywords: Lost_quotes Count_quotes Number_quotes Return_quotes Problem_quotes Realize_quotes Thinking_quotes Wrong_quotes Stroll_quotes Walk_quotes Way_quotes Minute_quotes Enough_quotes Ask_quotes Help_quotes Colleague_quotes Bother_quotes