Immediate quotes

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F_Terry_Baker

Code Library

“The most important of these is a development support library which encourages the visibility and manageability of the product, as well as reduces clerical effort on the part of the programmers. The library is typically maintained and operated by a programming librarian who serves to control the programming assets and to provide the necessary services for both programmers and management. As a result of its use, the entire project is maintained in a centralized, up-to-date, visible form which makes its status immediately apparent to code-competent software managers and makes it possible for programmers to answer their questions directly without relying on others.”
  • Source: Baker, F. T. (1975). Software Management Through Improved Programming Technology. ACM ’75: Proceedings of the 1975 Annual Conference, 286–287. https://doi.org/10.1145/800181.810346
Keywords: Programming_quotes Productivity_quotes Library_quotes Source_Code_quotes Important_quotes Development_quotes Support_quotes Encourage_quotes Visible_quotes Management_quotes Product_quotes Reduce_quotes Clerical_quotes Effort_quotes Part_quotes Programmer_quotes Typical_quotes Maintain_quotes Operate_quotes Librarian_quotes Serve_quotes Control_quotes Asset_quotes Provide_quotes Service_quotes Necessary_quotes Result_quotes Use_quotes Entire_quotes Project_quotes Centralize_quotes Up_to_date_quotes Form_quotes Make_quotes Status_quotes Immediate_quotes Apparent_quotes Code_quotes Competent_quotes Software_quotes Manager_quotes Possible_quotes Answer_quotes Question_quotes Direct_quotes Rely_quotes

Claude_Bernard

Counterproof

“Experimenters, who see their ideas confirmed by an experiment, should still doubt and require a counterproof. Indeed, proof that a given condition always precedes or accompanies a phenomenon does not warrant concluding with certainty that a given condition is the immediate cause of that phenomenon.”
  • Source: From the book "An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine" written by Claude Bernard published in French in 1865 as "Introduction à l'étude de la médecine expérimentale". Translated to English by Henry Copley Greene in 1927 and republished by Henry Shuman, Inc. in 1949. Chapter II, page 55. Available online at https://archive.org/details/b21270557 retrieved 2024.
Keywords: Experimenter_quotes Idea_quotes Confirm_quotes Experiment_quotes Doubt_quotes Require_quotes Counterproof_quotes Proof_quotes Condition_quotes Always_quotes Precede_quotes Accompany_quotes Phenomenon_quotes Warrant_quotes Conclude_quotes Certainty_quotes Immediate_quotes Cause_quotes

Richard_Feynman

Cargo Cult

“...there have been many experiments running rats through all kinds of mazes, and so on — with little clear result. But in 1937 a man named Young did a very interesting one. He had a long corridor with doors all along one side where the rats came in, and doors along the other side where the food was. He wanted to see if he could train rats to go to the third door down from wherever he started them off. No. The rats went immediately to the door where the food had been the time before. The question was, how did the rats know, because the corridor was so beautifully built and so uniform, that this was the same door as before? Obviously there was something about the door that was different from the other doors. So he painted the doors very carefully, arranging the textures on the faces of the doors exactly the same. Still the rats could tell. Then he thought maybe they were smelling the food, so he used chemicals to change the smell after each run. Still the rats could tell. Then he realized the rats might be able to tell by seeing the lights and the arrangement in the laboratory like any commonsense person. So he covered the corridor, and still the rats could tell. He finally found that they could tell by the way the floor sounded when they ran over it. And he could only fix that by putting his corridor in sand. So he covered one after another of all possible clues and finally was able to fool the rats so that they had to learn to go to the third door. If he relaxed any of his conditions, the rats could tell. Now, from a scientific standpoint, that is an A-number-one experiment. That is the experiment that makes rat-running experiments sensible, because it uncovers the clues that the rat is really using — not what you think it's using. And that is the experiment that tells exactly what conditions you have to use in order to be careful and control everything in an experiment with rat-running. I looked into the subsequent history of this research. The next experiment, and the one after that, never referred to Mr. Young. They never used any of his criteria of putting the corridor on sand, or of being very careful. They just went right on running rats in the same old way, and paid no attention to the great discoveries of Mr. Young, and his papers are not referred to, because he didn't discover anything about rats. In fact, he discovered all the things you have to do to discover something about rats. But not paying attention to experiments like that is a characteristic of cargo cult science.”
  • Source: "Cargo Cult Science", adapted from a 1974 Caltech commencement address; also published in Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, p. 345.
    • Feynman, R. P. (1974). In Feynman, R. P. (1974, June). Cargo Cult Science. Science and Engineering.
Keywords: Cargo_quotes Cult_quotes Experiment_quotes Rat_quotes Maze_quotes Result_quotes Door_quotes Smell_quotes Sight_quotes Sound_quotes Clue_quotes Control_quotes Attention_quotes Ignore_quotes Ignorance_quotes Discovery_quotes Corridor_quotes Food_quotes Train_quotes Immediate_quotes Time_quotes Question_quotes Know_quotes Uniform_quotes Obvious_quotes Different_quotes Paint_quotes Arrange_quotes Texture_quotes Face_quotes Think_quotes Chemical_quotes Change_quotes Run_quotes Realize_quotes Light_quotes Laboratory_quotes Common_quotes Sense_quotes Person_quotes Cover_quotes Floor_quotes Fool_quotes Relax_quotes Condition_quotes Science_quotes Standpoint_quotes Uncover_quotes Careful_quotes Look_quotes History_quotes Research_quotes Refer_quotes Criteria_quotes Sand_quotes Old_quotes Fact_quotes Characteristic_quotes

Arthur_Bloch

Finagle's Third Law

“In any collection of data, the figure most obviously correct, beyond all need of checking, is the mistake.
Corollaries:
1. No one whom you ask for help will see it.
2. Everyone who stops by with unsought advice will see it immediately.”
  • Source: Attributed to a fictional character named Finagle, reported in the book "Murphy's Law and Other Reasons Why Things Go Wrong" written by Arthur Bloch, first edition published in 1977 by Price/Stern/Sloan, Los Angeles, California. ISBN-10: 0843104287. ISBN-13: 978-0843104288. Chapter Murphology, page 15.
Keywords: Murphy(topic)_quotes Law_quotes Collection_quotes Data_quotes Figure_quotes Obvious_quotes Correct_quotes Beyond_quotes Need_quotes Check_quotes Mistake_quotes Ask_quotes Help_quotes See_quotes Everyone_quotes No_one_quotes Stop_quotes Unsought_quotes Advice_quotes Immediate_quotes

David_Epstein

Haiku

“Haiku, the three-line poem made by alternating lines of five, seven, and five syllables... in the seventeenth century, a student of Zen named Matsuo Bashō... made it into its own serious form, imbued with Zen principles. Not only were the words spare, but the ethos was as well... It prompted poets to pause and look mindfully at the world around them... This minuscule problem space is known around the world for its ability to turn anyone, from kindergartener to adult, into a probing wordsmith in an instant. Look around you; try it. The form's scarcity will immediately ignite an exploration of new linguistic possibilities in your mind.”
  • Source: David Epstein in the book “Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better”. Published 2026 by Riverhead Books. Page 68. ISBN 978-0593715734 (Ebook).
Keywords: Haiku_quotes Poem_quotes Make_quotes Alternative_quotes Line_quotes Syllable_quotes Century_quotes Student_quotes Zen_quotes Serious_quotes Form_quotes Imbue_quotes Principle_quotes Spare_quotes Ethos_quotes Prompt_quotes Poet_quotes Pause_quotes Look_quotes Mindful_quotes World_quotes Around_quotes Minuscule_quotes Problem_quotes Space_quotes Know_quotes Ability_quotes Turn_quotes Anyone_quotes Kindergarten_quotes Adult_quotes Probe_quotes Wordsmith_quotes Instant_quotes Try_quotes Scarce_quotes Immediate_quotes Ignite_quotes Explore_quotes Linguistic_quotes Possibility_quotes Mind_quotes

George_Miller

Immediate Memory

“Everybody knows that there is a finite span of immediate memory and that for a lot of different kinds of test materials this span is about seven items in length.”
  • Source: George A. Miller in the article ‘The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on our Capacity for Processing Information’. Psychological Review, 63, 81-97. Also online at https://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Miller/ .
Keywords: Everybody_quotes Know_quotes Finite_quotes Span_quotes Immediate_quotes Memory_quotes Different_quotes Kind_quotes Test_quotes Material_quotes Seven_quotes Item_quotes Length_quotes

Frank_H_T_Rhodes

Kettle Boiling

“It is not a question of choosing one and thereby rejecting the other; both are necessary in order to do justice to the totality... This is perhaps simply shown by Dr Douglas Spanner's example of the boiling kettle. Why, I may ask, is the kettle boiling? There are two kinds of answer that can be given. One is, it is boiling because energy is being supplied to it in the form of heat and the maximum vapour pressure of the water is now equal to the atmospheric pressure. The other kind of answer which may be given is that the kettle is boiling because I put it on to make a cup of tea. Now these are different answers, the first in terms of immediate causes and the second in terms of ultimate cause. But both are true, both are complementary and not competitive. One answer is appropriate within a particular frame of reference, the other within another frame of reference. There is a sense in which each is incomplete without the other.”
  • Source: Frank H. T. Rhodes in the essay “Christianity in a Mechanistic Universe”, included in the book “Christianity in a Mechanistic Universe and Other Essays” edited by Donald M. MacKay, published by Inter-Varsity Press, Chicago, Illinois, in 1965.
Keywords: Question_quotes Choose_quotes One_quotes Reject_quotes Both_quotes Other_quotes Necessary_quotes Order_quotes Justice_quotes Totality_quotes Perhaps_quotes Simply_quotes Show_quotes Spanner(topic)_quotes Example_quotes Boil_quotes Kettle_quotes Ask_quotes Why_quotes Kind_quotes Answer_quotes Give_quotes Energy_quotes Supply_quotes Form_quotes Heat_quotes Maximum_quotes Vapor_quotes Pressure_quotes Water_quotes Equal_quotes Atmosphere_quotes Make_quotes Cup_quotes Tea_quotes Different_quotes Term_quotes Immediate_quotes Cause_quotes Ultimate_quotes True_quotes Complementary_quotes Competitive_quotes Appropriate_quotes Particular_quotes Frame_quotes Reference_quotes Sense_quotes Each_quotes Incomplete_quotes Without_quotes

Alfred_Wegener

Continental Drift

“The first concept of continental drift first came to me as far back as 1910, when considering the map of the world, under the direct impression produced by the congruence of the coast lines on either side of the Atlantic. At first I did not pay attention to the ideas because I regarded it as improbable. In the fall of 1911, I came quite accidentally upon a synoptic report in which I learned for the first time of palaeontological evidence for a former land bridge between Brazil and Africa. As a result I undertook a cursory examination of relevant research in the fields of geology and palaeontology, and this provided immediately such weighty corroboration that a conviction of the fundamental soundness of the idea took root in my mind.”
  • Source: Alfred L. Wegener, In The Origins of Continents and Oceans (4th ed. 1929), trans. John Biram (1966), 1.
Keywords: Conception_quotes Continental_quotes Drift_quotes Map_quotes World_quotes Impress_quotes Produce_quotes Congruity_quotes Coast_quotes Line_quotes Side_quotes Atlantic_quotes Attention_quotes Idea_quotes Regard_quotes Improbable_quotes Fall_quotes Accident_quotes Synoptic_quotes Report_quotes Learning_quotes First_quotes Palaeontology_quotes Evidence_quotes Former_quotes Land_quotes Bridge_quotes Brazil_quotes Africa_quotes Result_quotes Examination_quotes Relevance_quotes Research_quotes Field_quotes Geology_quotes Provide_quotes Immediate_quotes Weight_quotes Corroborate_quotes Conviction_quotes Fundamental_quotes Sound_quotes Root_quotes Mind_quotes

Gerald_Weinberg

Amateur and Professional Programmers

“The amateur... is looking for a way to get the job done. If he runs into difficulty, all he wants is to surmount it — the manner of doing so is of little consequence. Not so, however, for the professional. She may well be aware of numerous ways of circumnavigating the problem at hand. She may even employ one of them for the immediate purpose of getting the job done. But her work does not stop there; it begins there. It begins because she must understand why she did not understand, in order that she may prepare herself for the programs she may someday write which will require that understanding. The amateur, then, is learning about his problem... The professional, conversely, is learning about her profession — programming — and the problem being programmed is only one incidental step in her process of development.”
  • Source: Chapter 7. Weinberg, G. M. (2011). The Psychology of Computer Programming (Silver anniversary edition) | 1971. Weinberg & Weinberg.
Keywords: Amateur_quotes Professional_quotes Job_quotes Difficulty_quotes Circumnavigation_quotes Problem_quotes Work_quotes Understanding_quotes Program_quotes Programming_quotes Programmer_quotes Preparation_quotes Process_quotes Development_quotes Look_quotes Way_quotes Surmount_quotes Manner_quotes Do_quotes Little_quotes Consequence_quotes Numerous_quotes Hand_quotes Employ_quotes Immediate_quotes Purpose_quotes Stop_quotes Begin_quotes Order_quotes Write_quotes Someday_quotes Require_quotes Learning_quotes Converse_quotes Profession_quotes Incidental_quotes Step_quotes

Shoshana_Zuboff

Authority is the Spiritual Dimension of Power

“Authority is the spiritual dimension of power because it depends upon faith in a system of meaning that decrees the necessity of the hierarchical order and so provides for the unity of imperative control. Authority requires collective participation in a system of meaning that extends beyond the immediate context, beyond those who command or obey, and reaches into the domain of transcendent values. Members of a hierarchical order are linked together through allegiance to or faith in a common belief system, and every action that ensures the smooth exercise of imperative control refers back to, and expresses the bonds one has with, some fundamental source of meaning.”
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 222. ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: Authority_quotes Spirituality_quotes Power_quotes Faith_quotes Belief_quotes Meaning_quotes System_quotes Hierarchy_quotes Order_quotes Unity_quotes Cooperation_quotes Participation_quotes Allegiance_quotes Tribalism_quotes Transcendent_quotes Values_quotes Bonding_quotes Religion_quotes Dimension_quotes Depend_quotes Necessity_quotes Provide_quotes Imperative_quotes Control_quotes Collective_quotes Immediate_quotes Context_quotes Command_quotes Obey_quotes Reach_quotes Domain_quotes Member_quotes Link_quotes Together_quotes Common_quotes Action_quotes Ensure_quotes Smooth_quotes Exercise_quotes Express_quotes Bond_quotes Fundamental_quotes Source_quotes
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