Problem quotes

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Christopher_Wolfgang_Alexander

Complexity

“Today more and more design problems are reaching insoluble levels of complexity... In spite of their superficial simplicity, even these problems have a background of needs and activities which is becoming too complex to grasp intuitively.”
Keywords: Complexity_quotes Design_quotes Intuition_quotes Today_quotes Problem_quotes Reach_quotes Insoluble_quotes Level_quotes Superficial_quotes Simplicity_quotes Background_quotes Need_quotes Activity_quotes Become_quotes Grasp_quotes

Rapid Change

“At the same time that problems increase in quantity, complexity, and difficulty, they also change faster than before.”
Keywords: Problem_quotes Size_quotes Complexity_quotes Fast_quotes Time_quotes Quantity_quotes Increase_quotes Difficulty_quotes Change_quotes

Flimsy Solution Conviction

“In the case of a real design problem, even our conviction that there is such a thing as fit to be achieved is curiously flimsy and insubstantial. We are searching for some kind of harmony between two intangibles: a form which we have not yet designed, and a context which we cannot properly describe. The only reason we have for thinking that there must be some kind of fit to be achieved between them is that we can detect incongruities, or negative instances of it.”
Keywords: Design_quotes Problem_quotes Confidence_quotes Incongruity_quotes Case_quotes Conviction_quotes Fit_quotes Achieve_quotes Curious_quotes Flimsy_quotes Insubstantial_quotes Search_quotes Kind_quotes Harmony_quotes Intangible_quotes Form_quotes Context_quotes Description_quotes Reason_quotes Thinking_quotes Detect_quotes Negative_quotes Instance_quotes

Biased Decisions and Perceptions

“The self-conscious individual's grasp of problems is constantly misled. His concepts and categories, besides being arbitrary and unsuitable, are self-perpetuating. Under the influence of concepts, he not only does things from a biased point of view, but sees them biasedly as well. The concepts control his perception of fit and misfit — until in the end he sees nothing but deviations from his conceptual dogmas, and loses not only the urge but even the mental opportunity to frame his problems more appropriately.”
Keywords: Problem_quotes Bias_quotes Perception_quotes Incongruity_quotes Dogma_quotes Self_quotes Consciousness_quotes Individual_quotes Grasp_quotes Constant_quotes Misled_quotes Category_quotes Arbitrary_quotes Unsuitable_quotes Perpetuate_quotes Influence_quotes Concept_quotes Point_quotes View_quotes Control_quotes Fit_quotes Misfit_quotes End_quotes See_quotes Deviation_quotes Conceptual_quotes Lose_quotes Urge_quotes Mental_quotes Opportunity_quotes Frame_quotes Appropriate_quotes

Design Information Overload

“Not only is the quantity of information itself by now beyond the reach of single designers, but the various specialists who retail it are narrow and unfamiliar with the form-makes' peculiar problems, so that it is never clear quite how the designer should best consult them.”
Keywords: Design_quotes Information_quotes Specialization_quotes Quantity_quotes Reach_quotes Single_quotes Designer_quotes Specialist_quotes Retail_quotes Narrow_quotes Unfamiliar_quotes Form_quotes Make_quotes Problem_quotes Peculiar_quotes Clear_quotes Consult_quotes

Negative Requirements

“If we think of the requirements from a negative point of view, as potential misfits, there is a simple way of picking a finite set. This is because it is through misfit that the problem originally brings itself to our attention.”
Keywords: Design_quotes Requirements_quotes Incongruity_quotes Think_quotes Negative_quotes Point_quotes View_quotes Potential_quotes Misfit_quotes Simple_quotes Pick_quotes Finite_quotes Problem_quotes Original_quotes Attention_quotes

Problems Worth Attention

“We cannot have a unitary of field description of a context and still have a design problem worth attention.”
Keywords: Design_quotes Complexity_quotes Unitary_quotes Field_quotes Description_quotes Context_quotes Problem_quotes Attention_quotes

David_Auerbach

Safe Accurate Data

“The specific problem computer science faces in these ‘data network’ scenarios is that of making the data ‘safe’ and ‘accurate’ for the networks.”
  • Source: David Auerbach, in the article “Bitwise: A Life in Code” published in 2019 in Communications of the ACM, Volume 62, Issue 9 (September). DOI: 10.1145/3347864.
Keywords: Problem_quotes Computer_quotes Science_quotes Computer_Science_quotes Face_quotes Data_quotes Network_quotes Scenario_quotes Make_quotes Safe_quotes Accurate_quotes

Synchronizing Interpretability

“The more tenable problem may be one of synchronizing interpretability between machine networks and humans, so that even though we each are black boxes, humans can still tune and correct machines — and vice versa.”
  • Source: David Auerbach, in the article “Bitwise: A Life in Code” published in 2019 in Communications of the ACM, Volume 62, Issue 9 (September). DOI: 10.1145/3347864.
Keywords: Tenable_quotes Problem_quotes Synchronizing_quotes Interpretability_quotes Machine_quotes Network_quotes Human_quotes Black_quotes Box_quotes Tune_quotes Correct_quotes Artificial_Intelligence_quotes

Robert_S_Barton

Software from the Middle

“I think at this point in the field we are almost forced to start in the middle, if we are concerned with the problem of general software construction and the organization of the machines to go with these programs.”
Keywords: Software_Engineering_quotes Point_quotes Field_quotes Force_quotes Start_quotes Middle_quotes Concern_quotes Problem_quotes General_quotes Software_quotes Construction_quotes Organization_quotes Machine_quotes Program_quotes Think_quotes

Arthur_Bloch

Murphy's Law Corollary 7

“Every solution breeds new problems.”
  • Source: Attributed to Edward A Murphy, 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 11.
Keywords: Every_quotes Solution_quotes Breed_quotes New_quotes Problem_quotes Murphy(topic)_quotes Law_quotes

Dietrich_Bonhoeffer

Stupidity Social

“We discover this to our surprise in particular situations. The impression one gains is not so much that stupidity is a congenital defect but that, under certain circumstances, people are made stupid or that they allow this to happen to them. We note further that people who have isolated themselves from others or who live in solitude manifest this defect less frequently than individuals or groups of people inclined or condemned to sociability. And so it would seem that stupidity is perhaps less a psychological than a sociological problem.”
  • Source: From the paper “An Account at the Turn of the Year 1942-1943” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, contained within the book “Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Volume 8: Letters and Papers from Prison” edited by John W. Gruchy, et al. Published in 2009 by Fortress Press.
Keywords: Stupid_quotes Discover_quotes Surprise_quotes Particular_quotes Situation_quotes Impression_quotes Gain_quotes Congenital_quotes Defect_quotes Certain_quotes Circumstance_quotes People_quotes Made_quotes Allow_quotes Happen_quotes Isolate_quotes Other_quotes Live_quotes Solitude_quotes Manifest_quotes Less_quotes Frequent_quotes Individual_quotes Group_quotes Incline_quotes Condemn_quotes Social_quotes Seem_quotes Psychology_quotes Sociology_quotes Problem_quotes

Robert_N_Britcher

Errors in Tests and Simulators

“The simulator software had to be tested as thoroughly as the software it was built to test. A fault in the simulator would cause the worst kind of problem, what computer analysts call a Byzantine failure. Byzantine failures are like traitors in a family. There is always a risk this will happen.”
  • Source: Britcher, Robert N. (1999). The Limits of Software: People, Projects, and Perspectives. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley. ISBN 0-201-43323-0. Page 61.
Keywords: Error_quotes Simulation_quotes Testing_quotes Software_quotes Fault_quotes Problem_quotes Analysis_quotes Byzantine_quotes Failure_quotes Traitor_quotes Risk_quotes Build_quotes Cause_quotes Computer_quotes Analyst_quotes Family_quotes

Complexity of Loops

“... within a procedure, fascinating problems exist - for example, verifying the correctness of a loop, one of the most complex structures in logic.”
  • Source: Britcher, Robert N. (1999). The Limits of Software: People, Projects, and Perspectives. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley. ISBN 0-201-43323-0. Page 112.
Keywords: Complexity_quotes Procedure_quotes Problem_quotes Verification_quotes Correctness_quotes Loop_quotes Logic_quotes Structure_quotes Fascinating_quotes Exist_quotes Complex_quotes

Software Transition Problem

“The biggest problem is creating a new version of an old system is the transition.”
  • Source: Britcher, Robert N. (1999). The Limits of Software: People, Projects, and Perspectives. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley. ISBN 0-201-43323-0. Page 167.
Keywords: Problem_quotes Version_quotes System_quotes Transition_quotes Legacy_quotes Migration_quotes Big_quotes Create_quotes New_quotes Old_quotes

Knowing Versus Doing

“We should not give up because there is no unified field theory of software engineering. The elements may not be easy to implement, but they are relatively simple, especially when compared with the study of proteins. ... The problem is not that we do not know enough. The problem is that we do not practice what we know.”
  • Source: Britcher, Robert N. (1999). The Limits of Software: People, Projects, and Perspectives. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley. ISBN 0-201-43323-0. Page 209.
Keywords: Persistence_quotes Unification_quotes Theory_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Element_quotes Hard_quotes Simplicity_quotes Protein_quotes Problem_quotes Knowledge_quotes Action_quotes Practice_quotes Doing_quotes Software_quotes Engineering_quotes Easy_quotes Implement_quotes Relative_quotes Compare_quotes Study_quotes Practice_quotes

C_West_Churchman

Society Complex

“It is sheer nonsense to expect that any human being has yet been able to attain such insight into the problems of society that he can really identify the central problems and determine how they should be solved. The systems in which we live are far too complicated as yet for our intellectual powers and technology to understand.”
  • Source: C. West Churchman in the book The Systems Approach (1968), p. x.
Keywords: System_quotes Humanity_quotes Nonsense_quotes Expectation_quotes Understanding_quotes Insight_quotes Problem_quotes Society_quotes Solution_quotes Complexity_quotes Intellectualism_quotes Technology_quotes

Alistair_Cockburn

Formal Development

"In the formal development of communications software, in 1987, I was given the motivation, 'The problem with software development is that there is too much ambiguity in the problem statement and in the design description. Things will go better if we get people to work with mathematical formalisms.” After some work in this area, I discovered:
Problem 1. The people on the projects were not interested in learning our system.
Problem 2. They were successfully able to ignore us, and were still delivering software, anyway.
I shifted out of formal development, hearing my formal development colleagues saying, 'The problem lies in the training. Things will go better if we start training students in the necessary mathematics earlier, i.e., secondary school.' Based on what I have learned about people, I expect this will be a frustrated desire. It is not that I doubt certain advantages of formal development, but I do doubt our ability to coax 10**6 people to master it. The question should become, 'Under what circumstances, and with what assignment, should a formal specialist be called in?'"

Source: Cockburn, A. A. R. (1999). Characterizing people as non-linear 1st order components in software development. HaT Technical Report 1999.03, Humans and Technology, Inc.. Retrieved 2019-06-29 from https://ameyakarve.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/characterizing-people-as-non-linear-1st-order-components-in-software-development-cockburn-us/.

Keywords: Formality_quotes Methodology_quotes Software_quotes Development_quotes Ambiguity_quotes Design_quotes Specification_quotes Requirements_quotes Training_quotes Education_quotes Specialization_quotes Communication_quotes Motivation_quotes Problem_quotes Statement_quotes Description_quotes People_quotes Work_quotes Mathematics_quotes Learning_quotes Success_quotes Ignore_quotes Deliver_quotes Colleague_quotes Student_quotes School_quotes Frustration_quotes Desire_quotes Advantage_quotes Circumstance_quotes Assignment_quotes Master_quotes

Nigel_Cross

Conventional Problem Solving

"Conventional wisdom about problem-solving seems often to be contradicted by the behavior of expert designers. But designing has many differences from conventional problem-solving. ... we must be very wary about importing models of design behavior from other fields. Empirical studies of design activity have frequently found 'intuitive' features of design ability to be the most effective and relevant to the intrinsic nature of design. Some aspects of design theory, however, have tried to develop counter-intuitive models and prescriptions for design behavior."
Keywords: Convention_quotes Wisdom_quotes Problem_quotes Solution_quotes Contradiction_quotes Expert_quotes Design_quotes Model_quotes Behavior_quotes Empirical_quotes Research_quotes Activity_quotes Intuition_quotes Ability_quotes Relevance_quotes Intrinsic_quotes Nature_quotes Theory_quotes Prescription_quotes Feature_quotes Field_quotes Effective_quotes

Analysis Versus Synthesis

"Scientists problem solve by analysis, whereas designers problem-solve by synthesis."
Keywords: Science_quotes Problem_quotes Analysis_quotes Solution_quotes Design_quotes Synthesis_quotes

Designerly Ways

"I identified five aspects of designerly ways of knowing: Designers tackle ‘ill-defined’ problems. Their mode of problem-solving is ‘solution-focused’. Their mode of thinking is ‘constructive’. They use ‘codes’ that translate abstract requirements into concrete objects. They use these codes to both ‘read’ and ‘write’ in ‘object languages’."
Keywords: Design_quotes Knowledge_quotes Aspect_quotes Problem_quotes Requirements_quotes Solution_quotes Definition_quotes Thinking_quotes Constructive_quotes Code_quotes Translation_quotes Abstraction_quotes Object_quotes Mode_quotes Concrete_quotes Read_quotes Write_quotes

Edward_Emil_David

Software Engineer Training

"The problem of how the software engineers will get their practice is precisely the same as in other fields of engineering, and is insoluble. This is recognized in industry, where one makes sure that the young engineers coming in will get the proper kind of experience in time."
Keywords: Problem_quotes Software_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Engineering_quotes Programmer_quotes Practice_quotes Training_quotes Insoluble_quotes Industry_quotes Young_quotes Experience_quotes Time_quotes Field_quotes Proper_quotes

DeMarco and Lister

People Related Problems

"Whatever you name these people-related problems, they’re more likely to cause you trouble on your next assignment than all the design, implementation, and methodology issues you’ll have to deal with. In fact, that idea is the underlying thesis of this whole book: The major problems of our work are not so much technological as sociological in nature."
  • Source: Book:: Entitled: Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams. Edition: 3rd. Written by: Tom DeMarco; Tim Lister. Date published: 1987; 1999; 2013. Publisher: Addison-Wesley. Country: USA; GBR; CAN; DEU; FRA; ESP; ZAF; AUS; JPN; SGP; MEX. Language: en. ISBN: ISBN-13: 978-0-321-93411-6 (alk paper); 0-321-93411-3 (alk paper). Chapter: 1 (Somewhere Today, a Project Is Failing).
Keywords: People_quotes Trouble_quotes Problem_quotes Assignment_quotes Design_quotes Implementation_quotes Methodology_quotes Thesis_quotes Work_quotes Technology_quotes Sociology_quotes Development_quotes Management_quotes Project_quotes Name_quotes Cause_quotes Nature_quotes

Cheeseburgers

"Development is inherently different from production. But managers of development and allied efforts often allow their thinking to be shaped by a management philosophy derived entirely from a production environment.
Imagine for the moment that you’re the manager of the local fast food franchise. It makes perfect sense for you to take any or all of the following efficient production measures:
- Squeeze out error. Make the machine (the human machine) run as smoothly as possible.
- Take a hard line about people goofing off on the job.
- Treat workers as interchangeable pieces of the machine.
- Optimize the steady state. (Don’t even think about how the operation got up to speed, or what it would take to close it down.)
- Standardize procedure. Do everything by the book.
- Eliminate experimentation—that’s what the folks at headquarters are paid for.
These would be reasonable approaches if you were in the fast food business (or any production environment), but you’re not. The 'make a cheeseburger, sell a cheeseburger' mentality can be fatal in your development area. It can only serve to damp your people’s spirits and focus their attention away from the real problems at hand. This style of management will be directly at odds with the work.
To manage thinking workers effectively, you need to take measures nearly opposite those listed above."
  • Source: Book: Entitled: Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams. Edition: 3rd. Written by: Tom DeMarco; Tim Lister. Date published: 1987; 1999; 2013. Publisher: Addison-Wesley. Country: USA; GBR; CAN; DEU; FRA; ESP; ZAF; AUS; JPN; SGP; MEX. Language: en. ISBN: ISBN-13: 978-0-321-93411-6 (alk paper); 0-321-93411-3 (alk paper). Chapter: 2 (Make a Cheeseburger, Sell a Cheeseburger).
Keywords: Cheeseburger_quotes Differences_quotes Production_quotes Development_quotes Manager_quotes Management_quotes Thinking_quotes Philosophy_quotes Environment_quotes Fast_Food_quotes Efficiency_quotes Error_quotes Machine_quotes Humanity_quotes Job_quotes Work_quotes Goofing_Off_quotes Worker_quotes Interchangeable_quotes Fungibility_quotes Status_Quo_quotes Optimization_quotes Change_quotes Steady_State_quotes Innovation_quotes Standards_quotes Book_quotes Experiment_quotes Headquarter_quotes Mentality_quotes Fatal_quotes Damp_quotes Imagination_quotes Steady_quotes State_quotes Eliminate_quotes Reason_quotes Make_quotes Sell_quotes Problem_quotes Effective_quotes Opposite_quotes

Error Quota

"For most thinking workers, making an occasional mistake is a natural and healthy part of their work. But there can be an almost Biblical association between error on the job and sin. This is an attitude we need to take specific pains to change. Speaking to a group of software managers, we introduced a strategy for what we think of as iterative design. The idea is that some designs are intrinsically defect-prone; they ought to be rejected, not repaired. Such dead ends should be expected in the design activity. The lost effort of the dead end is a small price to pay for a clean, fresh start. To our surprise, many managers felt this would pose an impossible political problem for their own bosses: 'How can we throw away a product that our company has paid to produce?' They seemed to believe that they’d be better off salvaging the defective version even though it might cost more in the long run. Fostering an atmosphere that doesn’t allow for error simply makes people defensive. They don’t try things that may turn out badly. You encourage this defensiveness when you try to systematize the process, when you impose rigid methodologies so that staff members are not allowed to make any of the key strategic decisions lest they make them incorrectly. The average level of technology may be modestly improved by any steps you take to inhibit error. The team sociology, however, can suffer grievously. The opposite approach would be to encourage people to make some errors. You do this by asking your folks on occasion what dead-end roads they’ve been down, and by making sure they understand that 'none' is not the best answer. When people blow it, they should be congratulated — that’s part of what they’re being paid for."
  • Source: Book: Entitled: Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams. Edition: 3rd. Written by: Tom DeMarco; Tim Lister. Date published: 1987; 1999; 2013. Publisher: Addison-Wesley. Country: USA; GBR; CAN; DEU; FRA; ESP; ZAF; AUS; JPN; SGP; MEX. Language: en. ISBN: ISBN-13: 978-0-321-93411-6 (alk paper); 0-321-93411-3 (alk paper). Chapter: 2 (Make a Cheeseburger, Sell a Cheeseburger).
Keywords: Thinking_quotes Worker_quotes Mistake_quotes Work_quotes Natural_quotes Biblical_quotes Error_quotes Job_quotes Sin_quotes Attitude_quotes Change_quotes Software_quotes Manager_quotes Strategy_quotes Iterative_quotes Design_quotes Defect_quotes Intrinsic_quotes Rejection_quotes Repair_quotes Dead_End_quotes Failure_quotes Fail_Early_quotes Activity_quotes Effort_quotes Cost_quotes Clean_quotes Fresh_quotes Impossibility_quotes Political_quotes Problem_quotes Environment_quotes Atmosphere_quotes Defensive_quotes Try_quotes Systematic_quotes Process_quotes Rigidity_quotes Methodology_quotes Technology_quotes Team_quotes Sociology_quotes Suffering_quotes Encouragement_quotes Congratulate_quotes

W_Edwards_Deming

Handicapped by the System

"The supposition is prevalent the world over that there would be no problems in production or service if only our production workers would do their jobs in the way that they were taught. Pleasant dreams. The workers are handicapped by the system, and the system belongs to the management."
  • Source: W. Edwards Deming (1982) Out Of The Crisis. The MIT Press. (2e ed. 1986) p. 134.
Keywords: Suppose_quotes Prevalence_quotes World_quotes Problem_quotes Production_quotes Service_quotes Worker_quotes Do_quotes Job_quotes Way_quotes Teaching_quotes Dreaming_quotes Handicap_quotes System_quotes Belong_quotes Management_quotes

Edsger_Wybe_Dijkstra

Two Kinds of System Designers

“There are two classes of system designers. The first, if given five problems will solve them one at a time. The second will come back and announce that these aren’t the real problems, and will eventually propose a solution to the single problem which underlies the original five. This is the ‘system type’ who is great during the initial stages of a design project. However, you had better get rid of him after the first six months if you want to get a working system.”
Keywords: Class_quotes System_quotes Design_quotes Problem_quotes Project_quotes Requirements_quotes Solve_quotes Real_quotes Underlie_quotes Initial_quotes Rid_quotes Work_quotes

Big Machines Big Problems

“As long as there were no machines, programming was no problem at all; when we had a few weak computers, programming became a mild problem, and now we have gigantic computers, programming has become an equally gigantic problem.”
  • Source: Edsger Wybe Dijkstra in an article entitled The Humble Programmer. Written by Edsger W. Dijkstra. Published 1972 in Communications of the ACM, volume 15, number 10. DOI: 10.1145/355604.361591.
Keywords: Machine_quotes Programming_quotes Problem_quotes Computer_quotes Gigantic_quotes

Programming Dogmatism

"Please don't fall into the trap of believing that I am terribly dogmatic about [the go to statement]. I have the uncomfortable feeling that others are making a religion out of it, as if the conceptual problems of programming could be solved by a simple trick, by a simple form of coding discipline!"
  • Source: Dijkstra (1973) in personal communication to Donald Knuth, quoted in Knuth's “Structured Programming with go to Statements”, online at https://pic.plover.com/knuth-GOTO.pdf retrieved 2022.
Keywords: Programming_quotes Belief_quotes Dogmatism_quotes Religion_quotes Conceptual_quotes Problem_quotes Trick_quotes Discipline_quotes Goto_quotes

Peter_Drucker

Education

“Tomorrow everybody - or practically everybody - will have had the education of the upper class of yesterday, and will expect equivalent opportunities. That is why we face the problem of making every kind of job meaningful and capable of satisfying every educated man.”
  • Source: Peter F. Drucker, “Landmarks of Tomorrow: A Report on the New 'Post-Modern' World”, New York: Harper & Row, 1959. p. 121.
Keywords: Tomorrow_quotes Everybody_quotes Practical_quotes Education_quotes Upper_quotes Class_quotes Yesterday_quotes Equal_quotes Opportunity_quotes Face_quotes Problem_quotes Make_quotes Kind_quotes Job_quotes Meaning_quotes Capability_quotes Satisfaction_quotes Man_quotes Human_quotes

Freeman_Dyson

Science and Society

“In the modern world, science and society often interact in a perverse way. We live in a technological society, and technology causes political problems. The politicians and the public expect science to provide answers to the problems. Scientific experts are paid and encouraged to provide answers. The public does not have much use for a scientist who says, 'Sorry, but we don’t know.' The public prefers to listen to scientists who give confident answers to questions and make confident predictions of what will happen as a result of human activities. So it happens that the experts who talk publicly about politically contentious questions tend to speak more clearly than they think. They make confident predictions about the future, and end up believing their own predictions. Their predictions become dogmas which they do not question. The public is led to believe that the fashionable scientific dogmas are true, and it may sometimes happen that they are wrong. That is why heretics who question the dogmas are needed.”
  • Source: Freeman Dyson, Frederick S. Pardee Distinguished Lecture (Oct 2005), Boston University. Collected in 'Heretical Thoughts About Science and Society', A Many-Colored Glass: Reflections on the Place of Life in the Universe (2007), 43-44.
Keywords: World_quotes Modern_quotes Science_quotes Society_quotes Interaction_quotes Perversity_quotes Technology_quotes Political_quotes Problem_quotes Politician_quotes People_quotes Answer_quotes Expert_quotes Knowledge_quotes Confidence_quotes Prediction_quotes Humanity_quotes Activity_quotes Talking_quotes Contention_quotes Thinking_quotes Future_quotes Belief_quotes Dogma_quotes Bias_quotes Heretical_quotes

Albert_Einstein

Magnificent Applied Science

“Why does this magnificent applied science which saves work and makes life easier bring us so little happiness? The simple answer runs: Because we have not yet learned to make sensible use of it. In war it serves that we may poison and mutilate each other. In peace it has made our lives hurried and uncertain. Instead of freeing us in great measure from spiritually exhausting labor, it has made men into slaves of machinery, who for the most part complete their monotonous long day's work with disgust and must continually tremble for their poor rations... It is not enough that you should understand about applied science in order that your work may increase man's blessings. Concern for the man himself and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavours; concern for the great unsolved problems of the organization of labor and the distribution of goods in order that the creations of our mind shall be a blessing and not a curse to mankind. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.”
  • Source: Albert Einstein [Speaker];
    • 1950-02-16 [Speech/Date]; California Institute of Technology [Location]; CalTech students [Audience];
    • 1950-02-17 [Reporting/Article/Date]; “Einstein Sees Lack in Applying Science” [Title]; Anonymous [Article/Author]; New York Times [Reporting/Newspaper]; 8 [Page];
Keywords: Science_quotes Happiness_quotes War_quotes Wisdom_quotes Peace_quotes Work_quotes Slavery_quotes Automation_quotes Ethics_quotes Values_quotes Empathy_quotes Labor_quotes Distribution_quotes Mind_quotes Humanity_quotes Mathematics_quotes Engineering_quotes Magnificent_quotes Applied_quotes Save_quotes Life_quotes Simple_quotes Answer_quotes Learn_quotes Sensible_quotes Poison_quotes Mutilate_quotes Hurry_quotes Uncertain_quotes Freedom_quotes Spiritual_quotes Exhausting_quotes Men_quotes Machinery_quotes Monotonous_quotes Long_quotes Day_quotes Disgust_quotes Continual_quotes Tremble_quotes Poor_quotes Rations_quotes Understand_quotes Increase_quotes Blessing_quotes Man_quotes Fate_quotes Chief_quotes Interest_quotes Technical_quotes Endeavour_quotes Concern_quotes Problem_quotes Unsolved_quotes Organization_quotes Creation_quotes Curse_quotes Mankind_quotes Forget_quotes Diagram_quotes Equation_quotes

David_Epstein

Problems

“In familiar problems, the space is ‘well-structured’ — marked with clear roads, so to speak — so one merely need follow known routes... For unfamiliar challenges, or ‘ill-structured’ problems, the problem space is so vast and uncharted that imposing some structure — deciding where to begin and how to advance — becomes the challenge.”
  • Source: David Epstein in the book “Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better”. Published 2026 by Riverhead Books. Page 29. ISBN 978-0593715734 (Ebook).
Keywords: Familiar_quotes Problem_quotes Space_quotes Well_quotes Structure_quotes Mark_quotes Clear_quotes Road_quotes Mere_quotes Need_quotes Follow_quotes Know_quotes Route_quotes Unfamiliar_quotes Challenge_quotes Ill_quotes Vast_quotes Uncharted_quotes Impose_quotes Decide_quotes Begin_quotes Where_quotes How_quotes Advance_quotes Become_quotes

Researcher Freedom

“The problem of researcher freedom leading to false conclusions is now known to be pervasive in science. The age of big data and big-database software makes it easier than ever to mix and match statistics in pursuit of positive results that are likely just artifacts of chance.”
  • Source: David Epstein in the book “Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better”. Published 2026 by Riverhead Books. Page 38. ISBN 978-0593715734 (Ebook).
Keywords: Problem_quotes Research_quotes Freedom_quotes Lead_quotes False_quotes Conclusion_quotes Know_quotes Now_quotes Pervasive_quotes Science_quotes Age_quotes Big_quotes Data_quotes Database_quotes Software_quotes Make_quotes Easy_quotes Mix_quotes Match_quotes Statistics_quotes Pursuit_quotes Positive_quotes Result_quotes Likely_quotes Artifact_quotes Chance_quotes

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

Richard_Feynman

Classical Theory

“... I'm not happy with all the analyses that go with just the classical theory, because nature isn't classical, dammit. And if you want to make a simulation of nature, you'd better make it quantum mechanical, and, by golly, it's a wonderful problem because it doesn't look so easy.”
  • Source: Article/Title: “Simulating Physics with Computers”; Journal/Name: International Journal of Theoretical Physics; Volume: 21; Publication/Date: 1982; Page: 486.
Keywords: Happy_quotes Analysis_quotes Classical_quotes Reality_quotes Theory_quotes Nature_quotes Simulation_quotes Quantum_quotes Wonder_quotes Easy_quotes Mechanics_quotes Problem_quotes

Samuel_C_Florman

Scientific Engineers

“Although engineers are not scientists, they study the sciences and use them to solve problems of practical interest, most typically by the process that we call creative design.”
  • Source: From the book “The Existential Pleasures of Engineering” by {Samuel C. Florman}. Second edition published in 1994 by {St. Martin's Press}, New York, NY. First edition published in 1976. Kindle edition published in 2023. E-book ISBN 978-1466842366. Preface to the first edition.
Keywords: Engineer_quotes Scientist_quotes Science_quotes Study_quotes Solve_quotes Problem_quotes Practical_quotes Interest_quotes Typical_quotes Process_quotes Creative_quotes Design_quotes

Engineer Thinking

“They felt that they were improving the world, not only by their deeds, but also by their way of thinking. If engineers could solve problems by being open-minded and free of preconceptions and prejudices — by applying scientific methods — could not all men learn to think in this mode, and then would not ignorance, superstition and bigotry vanish?”
  • Source: From the book “The Existential Pleasures of Engineering” by {Samuel C. Florman}. Second edition published in 1994 by {St. Martin's Press}, New York, NY. First edition published in 1976. Kindle edition published in 2023. E-book ISBN 978-1466842366. Chapter 1, page 7.
Keywords: Engineer_quotes Feel_quotes Improve_quotes World_quotes Deed_quotes Way_quotes Thinking_quotes Solve_quotes Problem_quotes Being_quotes Open_quotes Minded_quotes Free_quotes Preconception_quotes Prejudice_quotes Apply_quotes Scientific_quotes Method_quotes Scientific_Method_quotes Men_quotes Humanity_quotes Learn_quotes Mode_quotes Ignorance_quotes Superstition_quotes Bigotry_quotes Vanish_quotes

Despair

“From the beginning of recorded time, we find evidence of despair, melancholy, and ennui. We find also an abundance of greed, treachery, vulgarity, and stupidity. Absorbed as we are in our own problems, we tend to forget how replete history is with wars, feuds, floods, plagues, fires, massacres, tortures, slavery, the wasting of cities, and the destruction of libraries.”
  • Source: From the book “The Existential Pleasures of Engineering” by {Samuel C. Florman}. Second edition published in 1994 by {St. Martin's Press}, New York, NY. First edition published in 1976. Kindle edition published in 2023. E-book ISBN 978-1466842366. Chapter 6, page 74.
Keywords: Beginning_quotes Record_quotes Time_quotes Find_quotes Evidence_quotes Despair_quotes Melancholy_quotes Ennui_quotes Abundance_quotes Greed_quotes Treachery_quotes Vulgarity_quotes Stupidity_quotes Absorb_quotes Problem_quotes Forget_quotes Replete_quotes History_quotes War_quotes Feud_quotes Flood_quotes Plague_quotes Fire_quotes Massacre_quotes Torture_quotes Slavery_quotes Waste_quotes City_quotes Destruction_quotes Library_quotes

Forbes_Tech_Council

Customer Needs

“Sometimes software projects begin with a great idea... only for developers to discover that the problem they solved wasn’t actually the problem their customer needed to be solved.”
Keywords: Sometime_quotes Software_quotes Project_quotes Great_quotes Idea_quotes Developer_quotes Discover_quotes Problem_quotes Solve_quotes Customer_quotes Need_quotes Requirements_quotes

Henry_Ford

Capital

“Capital that is not constantly creating more and better jobs is more useless than sand. Capital that is not constantly making conditions of daily labour better and the reward of daily labour more just, is not fulfilling its highest function. The highest use of capital is not to make more money, but to make money do more service for the betterment of life. Unless we in our industries are helping to solve the social problem, we are not doing our principal work.”
  • Source: Henry Ford. A book. Entitled My Life and Work. Written by Henry Ford in collaboration with Samuel Crowther. Published 1922, Garden City, NY: Doubleday. Chapter XIII.
Keywords: Capital_quotes Create_quotes Constant_quotes Better_quotes Job_quotes Uselessness_quotes Sand_quotes Labor_quotes Justice_quotes Fulfill_quotes Function_quotes High_quotes Money_quotes Life_quotes Industry_quotes Society_quotes Problem_quotes Work_quotes Principal_quotes Reward_quotes Daily_quotes Service_quotes Help_quotes Solve_quotes

Galen

Seeks the Truth

“It would be better, I think, for the man who really seeks the truth not to ask what the poets say; rather, he should first learn the method of finding the scientific premises that I discussed in the second book; then he should train and exercise himself in this method; and when his training is sufficiently advanced, then, as he approaches each particular problem, he should enquire into the premise needed for proving it, which premise he should take from simple sense-perception, which from experience, whether drawn from life or from the arts, which from the truths clearly apprehended by the mind, in order to draw out from them the desired conclusion.”
  • Source: Galen, On the Doctrines of Hippocrates and Plato,: PHP III 8.35.1-11 translation: De Lacy, Phillip (1978- 1984) Galen, On the Doctrines of Hippocrates and Plato, Berlin. p. 233; cited in: Christopher Jon Elliott. "Galen, Rome and the Second Sophistic." p. 147-148.
Keywords: Better_quotes Thinking_quotes Truth_quotes Poetry_quotes Learning_quotes Methodology_quotes Science_quotes Scientific_Method_quotes Training_quotes Exercise_quotes Problem_quotes Proof_quotes Premise_quotes Assumption_quotes Perception_quotes Sense_quotes Experience_quotes Life_quotes Art_quotes Comprehension_quotes Mind_quotes Conclusion_quotes Man_quotes Seek_quotes Ask_quotes Find_quotes

Donald_C_Gause

Want Problems Solved

“Not too many people, in the final analysis, really want their problems solved.”
  • Source: Are Your Lights On?: How to Figure Out What the Problem Really Is by Donald C. Gause and Gerald M. Weinberg
Keywords: Want_quotes People_quotes Analysis_quotes Problem_quotes Solution_quotes Requirements_quotes Final_quotes

Gordon_Glegg

Problem Discovery

“Sometimes the problem is to discover what the problem is.”
  • Source: Glegg, G. L. (1969). The Design of Design. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 978-0-511-79996-9. Chapter 1 page 5.
Keywords: Problem_quotes Discovery_quotes Requirements_quotes

Joseph_Goebbels

Attacking Democracy

“We enter the Reichstag to arm ourselves with democracy’s weapons. If democracy is foolish enough to give us free railway passes and salaries, that is its problem... We are coming neither as friends nor neutrals. We come as enemies! As the wolf attacks the sheep, so come we.”
  • Source: Joseph Goebbels in the 1928-04-30 issue of the Nazi party propaganda newspaper ‘Der Angriff’.
  • Notes: This quote demonstrates the danger when non-democratic fascists or extremists are elected to democratic political positions.
Keywords: Reichstag_quotes Arm_quotes Democracy_quotes Weapon_quotes Foolish_quotes Free_quotes Railway_quotes Salary_quotes Problem_quotes Come_quotes Friend_quotes Neutral_quotes Enemy_quotes Wolf_quotes Attack_quotes Sheep_quotes Fascism_quotes Nazism_quotes Extremism_quotes

Eugene_Grace

Cooperation

“In college and universities each student is given problems to work out, always by himself, never in cooperation with others. The present-day method of education may be suitable enough for lawyers, doctors, ministers, etc., but it is certainly not suitable for men who are going to enter engineering, industry, commerce, or business of any kind, where the very soul of success is cooperation with others.”
Keywords: College_quotes University_quotes Education_quotes Student_quotes Problem_quotes Work_quotes Cooperation_quotes Methodology_quotes Lawyer_quotes Doctor_quotes Minister_quotes Suitability_quotes Man_quotes Engineering_quotes Industrial_quotes Commerce_quotes Business_quotes Soul_quotes Success_quotes Method_quotes Suitable_quotes

Robert_Heinlein

Specialization

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”.
  • Source: Written by Robert A. Heinlein in the book “Time Enough for Love”, published in 1973 by Putnam's Sons, ISBN: 0-399-11151-4. ISBN: 9781101503072 (ebook). Page 256 (Kindle edition).
Keywords: Human_quotes Being_quotes Diaper_quotes Plan_quotes Invasion_quotes Butcher_quotes Hog_quotes Conn_quotes Ship_quotes Design_quotes Building_quotes Write_quotes Sonnet_quotes Balance_quotes Account_quotes Build_quotes Wall_quotes Bone_quotes Comfort_quotes Dying_quotes Take_quotes Order_quotes Give_quotes Cooperate_quotes Act_quotes Solve_quotes Equation_quotes Analyze_quotes Problem_quotes Pitch_quotes Manure_quotes Program_quotes Computer_quotes Cook_quotes Taste_quotes Meal_quotes Fight_quotes Efficient_quotes Die_quotes Gallant_quotes Specialization_quotes Insect_quotes Generalization_quotes

Tony_Hoare

All Problems Technical

“Basically, all problems are technical. If you know what you want to do and you have the necessary technical background, there is no point in making a great management problem out of it. Obviously, a certain amount of resource control and personnel work has to go on but that’s all. On the other hand, you might have a task which is difficult in that you don’t know what you have to do, and that even if you did you wouldn’t know how to do it. Since this is a very difficult task you can start out with the hypothesis that it will take a great number of people. Following down this slippery slope of reasoning, as soon as you have a very large number of people you have a very large management problem. But it all originated out of the fact that you didn’t know what you were doing, or how to do it.”
  • Source: C.A.R.Hoare in Ercoli, P., Bauer, F. L., Aron, J. D., & Hoare, C. A. R. (1970). Software Engineering Techniques: Report on a Conference Sponsored by the NATO Science Committee, Rome, Italy, 27th to 31 October 1969. (J. N. Buxton & B. Randell, Eds.). Retrieved from http://homepages.cs.ncl.ac.uk/brian.randell/NATO/nato1969.PDF.
Keywords: Problem_quotes Technology_quotes Knowledge_quotes Management_quotes Resource_quotes Control_quotes Personnel_quotes Work_quotes Difficulty_quotes Hypothesis_quotes Effort_quotes Slippery_quotes Slope_quotes Reason_quotes Large_quotes Ignorance_quotes Want_quotes Necessary_quotes Background_quotes Task_quotes People_quotes Originate_quotes Fact_quotes

Douglas_Hofstadter

Artificial Intelligence Art Problems

“Artificial Intelligence, when it reaches the level of human intelligence — or even if it surpasses it — will still be plagued by the problems of art, beauty, and simplicity, and will run up against these things constantly in its own search for knowledge and understanding.”
  • Source: Hofstadter, Douglas R. (1979). Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid. Written by Douglas R. Hofstadter. Basic Books, New York, NY. ISBN 13: 978-046502656-2. ISBN 10: 046502656-7. Chapter 20. Page 695.
Keywords: Artificial_quotes Intelligence_quotes Reach_quotes Level_quotes Human_quotes Surpass_quotes Plague_quotes Problem_quotes Art_quotes Beauty_quotes Simplicity_quotes Run_quotes Up_quotes Against_quotes Constant_quotes Search_quotes Knowledge_quotes Understanding_quotes Artificial_Intelligence_quotes

Hans_Hüttel

Program Synthesis

“The problem of generating correct program code from a specification is well known in computer science and in fact it is a central one. It is the problem of program synthesis... A lot is already known about the synthesis problem in its various guises and in particular we know it is hard, where ‘hard’ means computationally hard.”
  • Source: Written by Hans Hüttel in the journal article entitled “On Program Synthesis and Large Language Models”, in Communications of the ACM, volume 68, number 1, 2025-01. DOI:10.1145/3680410.
Keywords: Problem_quotes Generate_quotes Correct_quotes Program_quotes Code_quotes Specification_quotes Know_quotes Computer_quotes Science_quotes Fact_quotes Central_quotes Synthesis_quotes Lot_quotes Already_quotes Various_quotes Guise_quotes Hard_quotes Computation_quotes

Carl_Jung

Insoluble Problems

“I always worked with the temperamental conviction that fundamentally there are no insoluble problems, and experience justified me in so far as I have often seen individuals simply outgrow a problem which had destroyed others. This ‘outgrowing’, as I formerly called it, on further experience was seen to consist in a new level of consciousness. Some higher or wider interest arose on the person's horizon, and through this widening of his view the insoluble problem lost its urgency. It was not solved logically in its own terms, but faded out when confronted with a new and stronger life-tendency. It was not repressed and made unconscious, but merely appeared in a different light, and so did indeed become different. What, on a lower level, had led to the wildest conflicts and to panicky outbursts of emotion, viewed from the higher level of the personality, now seemed like a storm in the valley seen from a high mountain-top. This does not mean that the thunderstorm is robbed of its reality, but instead of being in it, one is now above it. However, since we are both valley and mountain with respect to the psyche, it might seem a vain illusion to feel oneself beyond what is human. One certainly does feel the affect and is shaken and tormented by it, yet at the same time one is aware of a higher consciousness, which prevents one from becoming identical with the affect, a consciousness which takes the affect objectively, and can say, Ί know that I suffer'.”
Keywords: Conviction_quotes Insoluble_quotes Problem_quotes Experience_quotes Justification_quotes Individual_quotes Growth_quotes Destruction_quotes Consciousness_quotes Interest_quotes Horizon_quotes View_quotes Urgent_quotes Solution_quotes Logic_quotes Life_quotes Repression_quotes Unconscious_quotes Light_quotes Differences_quotes Level_quotes Conflict_quotes Wild_quotes Panic_quotes Emotion_quotes Personality_quotes Storm_quotes Valley_quotes Mountain_quotes Reality_quotes Objectivity_quotes Illusion_quotes Humanity_quotes Torment_quotes Identical_quotes Suffering_quotes

Unknown Potential

“Here and there it happened in my practice that a patient grew beyond himself because of unknown potentialities, and this became an experience of prime importance to me. I had learned in the meanwhile that the greatest and most important problems of life are all in a certain sense insoluble. They must be so because they express the necessary polarity inherent in every self-regulating system. They can never be solved, but only outgrown. I therefore asked myself whether this possibility of outgrowing, that is, further psychic development, was not the normal thing, and therefore remaining stuck in a conflict was what was pathological. Everyone must possess that higher level, at least in embryonic form, and in favorable circumstances must be able to develop this possibility.”
Keywords: Practice_quotes Patient_quotes Growth_quotes Potential_quotes Experience_quotes Importance_quotes Problem_quotes Life_quotes Insoluble_quotes Polarity_quotes Self-Regulation_quotes Solution_quotes Embryo_quotes Circumstance_quotes Development_quotes Possibility_quotes Outgrow_quotes Psychic_quotes Conflict_quotes Pathological_quotes Level_quotes Form_quotes

John_Maynard_Keynes

Technological Unemployment

“In our own lifetimes... we may be able to perform all the operations of agriculture, mining, and manufacture with a quarter of the human effort to which we have been accustomed. For the moment the very rapidity of these changes is hurting us and bringing difficult problems to solve... We are being afflicted with... technological unemployment. This means unemployment due to our discovery of means of economising the use of labour outrunning the pace at which we can find new uses for labour. But this is only a temporary phase of maladjustment... In the long run... mankind is solving its economic problem. I would predict that the standard of life in progressive countries one hundred years hence will be between four and eight times as high as it is today.”
  • Source: From the Essay “Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren” written by John Maynard Keynes in 1930. Included in the book “Essays in Persuasion” edited by John Maynard Keynes and published by W. W. Norton & Company in 1963.
Keywords: Lifetime_quotes Perform_quotes Ability_quotes Operation_quotes Agriculture_quotes Mining_quotes Manufacturing_quotes Quarter_quotes Human_quotes Effort_quotes Rapid_quotes Change_quotes Hurt_quotes Bring_quotes Difficult_quotes Problem_quotes Solve_quotes Afflict_quotes Technology_quotes Unemployment_quotes Employment_quotes Discover_quotes Means_quotes Economize_quotes Labor_quotes Outrun_quotes Pace_quotes Find_quotes Use_quotes Temporary_quotes Phase_quotes Maladjustment_quotes Adjustment_quotes Long_quotes Run_quotes Mankind_quotes Humanity_quotes Economic_quotes Prediction_quotes Standard_quotes Life_quotes Living_quotes Progressive_quotes Country_quotes Hundred_quotes Year_quotes High_quotes Today_quotes

Traditional Purpose

“Thus, we have been expressly evolved by nature — with all our impulses and deepest instincts — for the purpose of solving the economic problem. If the economic problem is solved, mankind will be deprived of its traditional purpose. Will this be a benefit? If one believes at all in the real values of life, the prospect at least opens up the possibility of benefit. Yet I think with dread of the readjustment of the habits and instincts of the ordinary man, bred into him for countless generations, which he may be asked to discard within a few decades.”
  • Source: From the Essay “Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren” written by John Maynard Keynes in 1930. Included in the book “Essays in Persuasion” edited by John Maynard Keynes and published by W. W. Norton & Company in 1963.
Keywords: Express_quotes Evolve_quotes Nature_quotes Impulse_quotes Deep_quotes Instinct_quotes Purpose_quotes Solve_quotes Economic_quotes Problem_quotes Mankind_quotes Humanity_quotes Deprive_quotes Traditional_quotes Benefit_quotes Believe_quotes Real_quotes Value_quotes Life_quotes Prospect_quotes Open_quotes Up_quotes Possibility_quotes Think_quotes Dread_quotes Readjustment_quotes Adjustment_quotes Habit_quotes Ordinary_quotes Man_quotes Human_quotes Bred_quotes Countless_quotes Generation_quotes Ask_quotes Discard_quotes Few_quotes Decade_quotes

Hollis_A_Kinslow

System Problems

“There are two classes of system designers. The first, if given five problems will solve them one at a time. The second will come back and announce that these aren’t the real problems, and will eventually propose a solution to the single problem which underlies the original five. This is the ‘system type’ who is great during the initial stages of a design project. However, you had better get rid of him after the first six months if you want to get a working system.”
Keywords: Design_quotes System_quotes Problem_quotes Compliance_quotes Creativity_quotes Optimal_quotes Analysis_Paralysis_quotes Project_quotes Class_quotes Solve_quotes Time_quotes Announce_quotes Real_quotes Propose_quotes Solution_quotes Underlie_quotes Initial_quotes Stage_quotes Rid_quotes Work_quotes

Kenneth_W_Kolence

Large Systems

“The basic problem is that certain classes of systems are placing demands on us which are beyond our capabilities and our theories and methods of design and production at this time ... It is large systems that are encountering great difficulties. We should not expect the production of such systems to be easy.”
Keywords: Problem_quotes System_quotes Class_quotes Demand_quotes Beyond_quotes Capability_quotes Theory_quotes Methodology_quotes Production_quotes Large_quotes Difficulty_quotes Easy_quotes Design_quotes Encounter_quotes

Pierre-Simon_Laplace

Problems of Probability

“The most important questions of life... are indeed for the most part only problems of probability. Strictly speaking it may even be said that nearly all our knowledge is problematical; and in the small number of things which we are able to know with certainty, even in the mathematical sciences themselves, the principal means for ascertaining truth — induction and analogy — are based on probabilities.”
Keywords: Important_quotes Question_quotes Life_quotes Part_quotes Problem_quotes Probability_quotes Near_quotes Knowledge_quotes Problematical_quotes Small_quotes Number_quotes Thing_quotes Ability_quotes Certainty_quotes Mathematics_quotes Science_quotes Principal_quotes Mean_quotes Ascertain_quotes Truth_quotes Induction_quotes Analogy_quotes Base_quotes

Henry_Louis_Mencken

Explanations

“Explanations exist; they have existed for all time; there is always a well-known solution to every human problem — neat, plausible, and wrong.”
  • Source: In the article entitled 'The Divine Afflatus' by Henry Louis Mencken, published in the New York Evening Mail, 16 November 1917.
Keywords: Explanation_quotes Existence_quotes Time_quotes Knowledge_quotes Solution_quotes Problem_quotes Humanity_quotes Neat_quotes Plausible_quotes Wrong_quotes

John_von_Neumann

Gradual Development of Theory

“What is important is the gradual development of a theory, based on a careful analysis of the ... facts. ... Its first applications are necessarily to elementary problems where the result has never been in doubt and no theory is actually required. At this early stage the application serves to corroborate the theory. The next stage develops when the theory is applied to somewhat more complicated situations in which it may already lead to a certain extent beyond the obvious and familiar. Here theory and application corroborate each other mutually. Beyond lies the field of real success: genuine prediction by theory. It is well known that all mathematized sciences have gone through these successive stages of evolution.”
  • Source: John von Neumann, 'Formulation of the Economic Problem' in Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (1964), 8. Reprinted in John Von Neumann, F. Bródy (ed.) and Tibor Vámos (ed.), The Neumann Compendium (2000), 416.
Keywords: Importance_quotes Gradual_quotes Development_quotes Theory_quotes Careful_quotes Analysis_quotes Fact_quotes Application_quotes Elementary_quotes Problem_quotes Result_quotes Doubt_quotes Requirements_quotes Early_quotes Stage_quotes Service_quotes Corroborate_quotes Complexity_quotes Situation_quotes Lead_quotes Obvious_quotes Familiar_quotes Mutual_quotes Success_quotes Genuine_quotes Prediction_quotes Mathematics_quotes Science_quotes Evolution_quotes Beyond_quotes

David_E_Nye

Farm Production Too Much

“The fundamental problem was that farmers produced too much, driving down prices. New technologies, such as tractors, trucks, harvesting equipment, and electrical machinery, made it possible for each farmer to raise more.”
  • Source: A book. Written by David E. Nye. Entitled 'Narratives and Spaces'. Published in 1997 by Univerity of Exeter Press, Exeter, UK. Hardback ISBN 0-85989-555-6. Paperback ISBN 0-85989-556-4. Chapter 3, page 45.
Keywords: Problem_quotes Fundamental_quotes Farmer_quotes Production_quotes Drive_quotes Price_quotes Technology_quotes Tractor_quotes Truck_quotes Harvest_quotes Equipment_quotes Electricity_quotes Machinery_quotes Possible_quotes Raise_quotes Grow_quotes Increase_quotes More_quotes

Ascher_Opler

Spot the Lemon Early

“In managing software projects the real problem is ‘spot the lemon and spot the lemon early’.”
Keywords: Management_quotes Software_quotes Project_quotes Problem_quotes Spot_quotes Notice_quotes Find_quotes Mindfulness_quotes Lemon_quotes Bug_quotes Defect_quotes Early_quotes

Richard_Pascale

Unintended Consequences

“Unintended consequences get to the heart of why you never really understand an adaptive problem until you have solved it. Problems morph and ‘solutions’ often point to deeper problems. In social life, as in nature, we are walking on a trampoline. Every inroad reconfigures the environment we tread on.”
  • Source: Richard T. Pascale, Jerry Sternin, Monique Sternin (2010). “The Power of Positive Deviance: How Unlikely Innovators Solve the World's Toughest Problems”, p.192, Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press
Keywords: Unintentional_quotes Consequence_quotes Heart_quotes Understanding_quotes Adaptation_quotes Problem_quotes Solution_quotes Morph_quotes Point_quotes Deep_quotes Sociology_quotes Nature_quotes Walk_quotes Trampoline_quotes Environment_quotes Tread_quotes Inroad_quotes Reconfigure_quotes

Alan_Perlis

Useful Software Systems

“We recognize that a practical problem of considerable difficulty and importance has arisen: The successful design, production and maintenance of useful software systems. The importance is obvious and the more so since we see only greater growth in demands and requirements in the future. The consequences of poor performance, poor design, instability and mismatching of promise and performance are not going to be limited to the computing fraternity, or even their nearest neighbors, but will affect considerable sections of our society whose ability to forgive is inversely proportional to their ignorance of the difficulties we face. The source of difficulty is distributed through the whole problem, easy to identify, and yet its cure is hard to pinpoint so that systematic improvement can be gotten.”
Keywords: Usefulness_quotes Practical_quotes Problem_quotes Difficulty_quotes Importance_quotes Arise_quotes Success_quotes Design_quotes Production_quotes Maintain_quotes Software_quotes System_quotes Obvious_quotes Great_quotes Growth_quotes Demand_quotes Requirements_quotes Consequence_quotes Poor_quotes Performance_quotes Instability_quotes Mismatch_quotes Promise_quotes Go_quotes Limitation_quotes Computing_quotes Fraternity_quotes Near_quotes Neighbor_quotes Affect_quotes Considerable_quotes Section_quotes Society_quotes Ability_quotes Forgiveness_quotes Inverse_quotes Proportion_quotes Ignorance_quotes Face_quotes Source_quotes Distributed_quotes Easy_quotes Identify_quotes Cure_quotes Hard_quotes Pinpoint_quotes Improve_quotes

Training

“Our problems arise from demands, appetites, and our exuberant optimism. They are magnified by the unevenly trained personnel with which we work. In our deliberations we will not, I believe, be able to avoid the education problem — software engineering does not exist without software engineers.”
Keywords: Problem_quotes Arise_quotes Demand_quotes Appetite_quotes Exuberant_quotes Magnify_quotes Uneven_quotes Training_quotes Personnel_quotes Work_quotes Deliberation_quotes Belief_quotes Avoidance_quotes Education_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Optimism_quotes Engineering_quotes Engineer_quotes Software_quotes

Failure and Success

“Dealing with failure is easy: Work hard to improve. Success is also easy to handle: You've solved the wrong problem. Work hard to improve.”
Keywords: Deal_quotes Failure_quotes Easy_quotes Work_quotes Hard_quotes Improve_quotes Success_quotes Handle_quotes Solution_quotes Wrong_quotes Problem_quotes Requirements_quotes

Steven_Pinker

Computational Mind

“The mind is a system of organs of computation, designed by natural selection to solve the kinds of problems our ancestors faced in their foraging way of life, in particular, understanding and outmaneuvering objects, animals, plants, and other people.”
  • Source: Steven Pinker (1997). How the Mind Works. New York, NY: W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-06973-0; eISBN 978-0-393-06973-0. Chapter 1 Section Reverse-Engineering the Psyche.
Keywords: Mind_quotes System_quotes Computation_quotes Organ_quotes Design_quotes Natural_Selection_quotes Solution_quotes Kind_quotes Problem_quotes Ancestor_quotes Forage_qoutes Way_quotes Life_quotes Understanding_quotes Maneuver_quotes Object_quotes Evolution_quotes Animal_quotes Plant_quotes People_quotes Prehistoric_quotes

Assumptions

“Only an angel could be a general problem-solver; we mortals have to make fallible guesses from fragmentary information. Each of our mental modules solves its unsolvable problem by a leap of faith about how the world works, by making assumptions that are indispensable but indefensible — the only defense being that the assumptions worked well enough in the world of our ancestors.”
  • Source: Steven Pinker (1997). How the Mind Works. New York, NY: W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-06973-0; eISBN 978-0-393-06973-0. Chapter 1 Section Reverse-Engineering the Psyche.
Keywords: Angel_quotes Assumption_quotes Generality_quotes Problem_quotes Solution_quotes Mortality_quotes Fallible_quotes Guess_quotes Fragment_quotes Information_quotes Mental_quotes Module_quotes Unsolvable_quotes Leap_quotes Faith_quotes World_quotes Work_quotes Indespensible_quotes Indefensible_quotes Defense_quotes Enough_quotes Ancestor_quotes Problem-Solver_quotes World_quotes

Mind and Soul

“The traditional explanation of intelligence is that human flesh is suffused with a non-material entity, the soul, usually envisioned as some kind of ghost or spirit. But the theory faces an insurmountable problem: How does the spook interact with solid matter? How does an ethereal nothing respond to flashes, pokes, and beeps and get arms and legs to move? Another problem is the overwhelming evidence that the mind is the activity of the brain.”
  • Source: Steven Pinker (1997). How the Mind Works. New York, NY: W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-06973-0; eISBN 978-0-393-06973-0. Chapter 2 The search for Intelligent Life in the Universe.
Keywords: Tradition_quotes Explanation_quotes Intelligence_quotes Human_quotes Flesh_quotes Suffuse_quotes Non-Material_quotes Material_quotes Entity_quotes Envision_quotes Kind_quotes Ghost_quotes Spirit_quotes Theory_quotes Insurmountable_quotes Problem_quotes Spook_quotes Interaction_quotes Solid_quotes Matter_quotes Ethereal_quotes Nothing_quotes Respond_quotes Flash_quotes Poke_quotes Beep_quotes Arm_quotes Leg_quotes Movement_quotes Overwhelm_quotes Evidence_quotes Mind_quotes Activity_quotes Brain_quotes Soul_quotes

Michael_Polanyi

Scientific Method Elucidation

“Almost every major systematic error which has deluded men for thousands of years relied on practical experience. Horoscopes, incantations, oracles, magic, witchcraft, the cures of witch doctors and of medical practitioners before the advent of modern medicine, were all firmly established through the centuries in the eyes of the public by their supposed practical successes. The scientific method was devised precisely for the purpose of elucidating the nature of things under more carefully controlled conditions and by more rigorous criteria than are present in the situations created by practical problems.”
  • Source: Michael Polanyi, Personal Knowledge (1958), 183.
Keywords: Major_quotes System_quotes Error_quotes Delusion_quotes Humanity_quotes Year_quotes Practical_quotes Experience_quotes Horoscope_quotes Incantation_quotes Oracle_quotes Magic_quotes Witchcraft_quotes Cure_quotes Witch-Doctor_quotes Medical_quotes Practitioner_quotes Modern_quotes Medicine_quotes Firm_quotes Establish_quotes Century_quotes Eye_quotes Public_quotes Suppose_quotes Success_quotes Scientific_Method_quotes Devise_quotes Precision_quotes Purpose_quotes Elucidate_quotes Nature_quotes Careful_quotes Control_quotes Condition_quotes Rigorous_quotes Criteria_quotes Present_quotes Situation_quotes Create_quotes Problem_quotes Thousand_quotes Doctor_quotes Science_quotes Method_quotes

Nicholas_Rescher

Inherent Unpredictability

“The inherent unpredictability of future scientific developments — the fact that no secure inference can be drawn from one state of science to another — has important implications for the issue of the limits of science. It means that present-day science cannot speak for future science: it is in principle impossible to make any secure inferences from the substance of science at one time about its substance at a significantly different time. The prospect of future scientific revolutions can never be precluded. We cannot say with unblinking confidence what sorts of resources and conceptions the science of the future will or will not use. Given that it is effectively impossible to predict the details of what future science will accomplish, it is no less impossible to predict in detail what future science will not accomplish. We can never confidently put this or that range of issues outside 'the limits of science', because we cannot discern the shape and substance of future science with sufficient clarity to be able to say with any assurance what it can and cannot do. Any attempt to set 'limits' to science — any advance specification of what science can and cannot do by way of handling problems and solving questions — is destined to come to grief.”
  • Source: Nicholas Rescher, The Limits of Science (1984), 102-3.
Keywords: Inherent_quotes Prediction_quotes Unpredictability_quotes Future_quotes Science_quotes Development_quotes Progress_quotes Inference_quotes Conclusion_quotes State_quotes Causality_quotes Importance_quotes Imply_quotes Issue_quotes Limitation_quotes Meaning_quotes Present_quotes Day_quotes Speak_quotes Principle_quotes Impossibility_quotes Substance_quotes Time_quotes Significance_quotes Differences_quotes Prospect_quotes Revolution_quotes Preclude_quotes Blink_quotes Confidence_quotes Resource_quotes Conception_quotes Detail_quotes Accomplish_quotes Range_quotes Shape_quotes Sufficient_quotes Clarity_quotes Assurance_quotes Attempt_quotes Specification_quotes Advance_quotes Handle_quotes Problem_quotes Solution_quotes Question_quotes Destiny_quotes Grief_quotes Secure_quotes Outside_quotes Discern_quotes

Rittel_and_Webber

Wicked Problems

“The search for scientific bases for confronting problems of social policy is bound to fail, because of the nature of these problems. They are 'wicked' problems, whereas science has developed to deal with 'tame' problems.”
Keywords: Search_quotes Science_quotes Base_quotes Confront_quotes Problem_quotes Society_quotes Policy_quotes Bounding_quotes Failure_quotes Nature_quotes Wicked_quotes Deal_quotes Tame_quotes

No Correct nor Optimal

“In a pluralistic society there is nothing like the undisputable public good, there is no objective definition of equity, policies that respond to social problems cannot be meaningfully correct or false, and it makes no sense to talk about 'optimal solutions' to social problems unless severe qualifications are imposed first. Even worse, there are no 'solutions' in the sense of definitive and objective answers.”
Keywords: Pluralistic_quotes Society_quotes Undisputable_quotes Objective_quotes Definition_quotes Equity_quotes Policy_quotes Response_quotes Problem_quotes Good_quotes Meaning_quotes Correct_quotes False_quotes Sense_quotes Talk_quotes Optimal_quotes Qualification_quotes Impose_quotes Solution_quotes Answer_quotes Public_quotes

Problem Defining Problems

“By now we are all beginning to realize that one of the most intractable problems is that of defining problems (of knowing what distinguishes an observed condition from a desired condition) and of locating problems (finding where in the complex causal networks the trouble really lies).”
Keywords: Begin_quotes Realization_quotes Intractable_quotes Problem_quotes Define_quotes Knowledge_quotes Distinguish_quotes Observation_quotes Condition_quotes Locate_quotes Complexity_quotes Causality_quotes Network_quotes Trouble_quotes Desire_quotes

Planning Problems are Wicked Problems

“A great many barriers keep us from perfecting such a planning/governing system. Theory is inadequate for decent forecasting, our intelligence is insufficient to our tasks, plurality of objectives held by pluralities of politics makes it impossible to pursue unitary aims, and so on. The difficulties attached to rationality are tenacious, and we have so far been unable to get untangled from their web. This is partly because the classical paradigm of science and engineering - the paradigm that has underlain modern professionalism - is not applicable to the problems of open societal systems.”
Keywords: Great_quotes Barrier_quotes Keep_quotes Perfect_quotes Plan_quotes Govern_quotes System_quotes Theory_quotes Inadequate_quotes Decent_quotes Forecast_quotes Intelligence_quotes Insufficient_quotes Task_quotes Pluralistic_quotes Objective_quotes Political_quotes Impossibility_quotes Pursuit_quotes Unitary_quotes Aim_quotes Difficulty_quotes Attach_quotes Rational_quotes Tenacious_quotes Untangle_quotes Web_quotes Classical_quotes Paradigm_quotes Science_quotes Engineering_quotes Modern_quotes Professional_quotes Applicable_quotes Problem_quotes Society_quotes

Tame Versus Wicked Problems

“The problems that scientists and engineers have usually focused upon are mostly 'tame' or 'benign' ones. As an example, consider a problem of mathematics, such as solving an equation, or the task of an organic chemist in analyzing the structure of some unknown compound, or that of the chess player attempting to accomplish checkmate in five moves. For each the mission is clear. It is clear, in turn, whether or not the problems have been solved. Wicked problems, in contrast, have neither of these clarifying traits.”
Keywords: Problem_quotes Scientist_quotes Engineer_quotes Focus_quotes Tame_quotes Benign_quotes Mathematics_quotes Solve_quotes Equation_quotes Task_quotes Organic_quotes Chemist_quotes Analysis_quotes Structure_quotes Unknown_quotes Compound_quotes Chess_quotes Player_quotes Attempt_quotes Accomplish_quotes Checkmate_quotes Mission_quotes Clear_quotes Wicked_quotes Contrast_quotes Clarify_quotes Trait_quotes

Arthur_Schopenhauer

Think New Thoughts

“So the problem is not so much to see what nobody has yet seen, as to think what nobody has yet thought concerning that which everybody sees. Also for this reason, it takes so very much more to be a philosopher than a physicist.”
Keywords: Thinking_quotes Creativity_quotes Perception_quotes Philosophy_quotes Physics_quotes Problem_quotes See_quotes Nobody_quotes Everybody_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.
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

Rubber Duck

“The mere act of explaining a problem tends to produce new insight. If you don’t have a colleague, you may try explaining the problem to a rubber duck.”
  • 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.

Keywords: Mere_quotes Act_quotes Explain_quotes Problem_quotes Tend_quotes Produce_quotes Insight_quotes Colleague_quotes Try_quotes Rubber_quotes Duck_quotes

Herbert_Simon

Operational Research Restrictions

“The powerful algorithms associated with OR impose a strong mathematical structure on the decision problem. Their power is bought at the cost of shaping and squeezing the real-world problem to fit their computational requirements.”
Keywords: Power_quotes Algorithm_quotes Association_quotes Operation_quotes Research_quotes Strength_quotes Mathematics_quotes Structure_quotes Decision_quotes Problem_quotes Cost_quotes Buy_quotes Shape_quotes Squeeze_quotes World_quotes Fit_quotes Computation_quotes Requirements_quotes Real_quotes

Game Theory

“Game theory's most valuable contribution has been to show that rationality is effectively undefinable when competitive actors have unlimited computational capabilities for outguessing each other, but that the problem does not arise as acutely in a world, like the real world, of bounded rationality.”
Keywords: Game_quotes Theory_quotes Value_quotes Contribution_quotes Rational_quotes Effectiveness_quotes Definition_quotes Competition_quotes Actor_quotes Unlimited_quotes Limitation_quotes Computation_quotes Capability_quotes Guess_quotes Problem_quotes Arise_quotes Acute_quotes World_quotes Reality_quotes Bounding_quotes Rational_quotes Undefinable_quotes Outguess_quotes

Problem Solving and Understanding

“Efforts to solve a problem must be preceded by efforts to understand it.”
Keywords: Effort_quotes Solution_quotes Problem_quotes Precede_quotes Understanding_quotes

Understanding Problems

“Understanding problems in domains that have rich semantics requires prior knowledge of the domain.”
Keywords: Understanding_quotes Problem_quotes Domain_quotes Rich_quotes Semantic_quotes Requirements_quotes Prior_quotes Knowledge_quotes

Long Definition of Design

“The ‘inner environment' of the design problem is represented by a set of given alternatives of action. The alternatives may be given in extenso: more commonly they are specified in terms of command variables that have defined domains. The ‘outer environment' is represented by a set of parameters, which may be known with certainty or only in terms of a probability distribution. The goals for adaptation of inner to outer environment are defined by a utility function a function, usually scalar, of the command variables and environmental parameters perhaps supplemented by a number of constraints (inequalities, say, between functions of the command variables and environmental parameters). The optimization problem is to find an admissible set of values of the command variables, compatible with the constraints, that maximize the utility function for the given values of the environmental parameters. (In the probabilistic case we might say, 'maximize the expected value of the utility function,' for instance, instead of 'maximize the utility function.')”
Keywords: Inner_quotes Environment_quotes Design_quotes Problem_quotes Representation_quotes Set_quotes Alternative_quotes Action_quotes Extenso_quotes Common_quotes Specification_quotes Term_quotes Command_quotes Variable_quotes Definition_quotes Domain_quotes Outer_quotes Parameter_quotes Knowledge_quotes Certainty_quotes Probability_quotes Distribution_quotes Goal_quotes Adaptation_quotes Utility_quotes Function_quotes Scalar_quotes Supplement_quotes Number_quotes Constraint_quotes Maximum_quotes Value_quotes Compatibility_quotes Case_quotes Expectation_quotes Inequality_quotes Optimization_quotes Admissible_quotes

Solving via Representation

“Solving a problem simply means representing it so as to make the solution transparent.”
Keywords: Solution_quotes Problem_quotes Simplicity_quotes Meaning_quotes Representation_quotes Transparency_quotes

Alfred_Tarski

Search For Truth

“The search for truth is rightly considered the essence of scientific activities, it appears as an important problem to find at least partial criteria of truth and to develop procedures that may enable us to ascertain or negate the truth (or at least the likelihood of truth).”
  • Source: Alfred Tarski in his paper entitled ‘Truth and Proof’, published in Scientific America, 1969, volume 220 issue 6, pages 63-77. Online at https://www.jstor.org/stable/24926385.
Keywords: Search_quotes Truth_quotes Right_quotes Consider_quotes Essence_quotes Science_quotes Activity_quotes Appear_quotes Important_quotes Problem_quotes Find_quotes Least_quotes Partial_quotes Criteria_quotes Develop_quotes Procedure_quotes Enable_quotes Ascertain_quotes Negate_quotes Likelihood_quotes

Shannon_Vallor

AI Longtermism

“What longtermists and effective altruists have in common... is the utilitarian view that morality is a happiness optimization problem, a matter of running the numbers. Conveniently for AI enthusiasts... For a virtue ethicist like me, there are profound dangers and moral errors in any view of morality that separates it from humane feeling, relational bonds, and social context, reducing it to a mere computation of net happiness units.”
  • Source: From the book “The AI Mirror” by Shannon Vallor. Published 2024 by Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0197759066. Chapter 3, page 77.
Keywords: AI_quotes Artificial_quotes Intelligence_quotes Longtermism_quotes Effective_quotes Altruist_quotes Common_quotes Utilitarian_quotes View_quotes Morality_quotes Happiness_quotes Optimization_quotes Problem_quotes Matter_quotes Run_quotes Number_quotes Convenient_quotes Enthusiast_quotes Virtue_quotes Ethicist_quotes Profound_quotes Danger_quotes Moral_quotes Error_quotes Separate_quotes Human_quotes Feel_quotes Relational_quotes Bond_quotes Social_quotes Context_quotes Reduce_quotes Mere_quotes Computation_quotes Net_quotes Unit_quotes

Patrick_Vlaskovits

Faster Horse

“However, even if Ford didn’t verbalize his thoughts on customers’ ostensible inability to communicate their unmet needs for innovative products — history indicates that Henry Ford most certainly did think along those lines... Henry Ford froze the design of the Model T... Ford had no compelling reason to innovate in any other sphere other than cost and price reduction... But everything changed with the onset of the innovations introduced by General Motors in the 1920s, which took the direct opposite of Henry Ford’s tack of “Any color … so long as it is black” and is best summed up by Alfred Sloan’s consumer-research driven “A Car for Every Purse and Purpose”... In 1921, the Ford Motor Company sold about 2/3 of all the cars built in the U.S. By 1926, this share had fallen to approximately 1/3. And in 1927, when Ford belatedly responded (at tremendous financial cost and internal strife) to changes in the market’s tastes and competitive innovation by shutting down production temporarily to re-tool his factories and bring the Model A to the market, that percentage fell to about 15%... Yes, some customers in certain types of businesses are quite capable of verbalizing precisely what sort of innovative product one could build and sell them. And of course, customers in other types of businesses are wholly incapable of verbalizing, with any sort of fidelity whatsoever, what they need and why they need it. An innovator should have understanding of one’s customers and their problems via empirical, observational, anecdotal methods or even intuition. They should also feel free to ignore customers’ inputs. Because by now it should be clear that Ford’s adherence to his vision of the mass-market car and how to materialize that vision was instrumental in both his early success in growing Ford Motor Company as well as his later failure to respond in a timely and effective manner to rapid innovation in the marketplace.”'
Keywords: Ford(topic)_quotes Sloan(topic)_quotes Verbalize_quotes Thinking_quotes Customer_quotes Requirements_quotes Ostensible_quotes Inability_quotes Communication_quotes Unmet_quotes Need_quotes Innovation_quotes Product_quotes History_quotes Freeze_quotes Design_quotes Model_T_quotes Automobile_quotes Compel_quotes Sphere_quotes Cost_quotes Price_quotes Reduction_quotes Change_quotes General_Motors_quotes Consumer_quotes Research_quotes Opposite_quotes Color_quotes Black_quotes Car_quotes Purse_quotes Ford_Motor_quotes Build_quotes United_States_quotes Share_quotes Market_quotes Belated_quotes Respond_quotes Tremendous_quotes Financial_quotes Internal_quotes Strife_quotes Taste_quotes Competition_quotes Shut_quotes Production_quotes Tool_quotes Factory_quotes Model_A_quotes Percentage_quotes Type_quotes Business_quotes Capable_quotes Precise_quotes Sort_quotes Sell_quotes Incapable_quotes Fidelity_quotes What_quotes Why_quotes Understand_quotes Problem_quotes Empirical_quotes Observation_quotes Anecdotal_quotes Method_quotes Intuition_quotes Feel_quotes Free_quotes Ignore_quotes Input_quotes Clear_quotes Adherence_quotes Vision_quotes Mass_quotes Innovator_quotes Materialize_quotes Instrumental_quotes Success_quotes Early_quotes Grow_quotes Later_quotes Failure_quotes Timely_quotes Effective_quotes Manner_quotes Rapid_quotes Marketplace_quotes Horse_quotes Faster_quotes

Gerald_Weinberg

Want Problems Solved

“Not too many people, in the final analysis, really want their problems solved.”
  • Source: Are Your Lights On?: How to Figure Out What the Problem Really Is by Donald C. Gause and Gerald M. Weinberg
Keywords: Want_quotes People_quotes Analysis_quotes Problem_quotes Solution_quotes Requirements_quotes Final_quotes

Multiple Programmer Productivity

“As a rough rule, three programmers organized into a team can do only twice the work of a single programmer of the same ability — because of time spent on coordination problems. Moreover, three groups of three programmers can do only twice the work of a single group.”
  • Source: Book Entitled: The Psychology of Computer Programming (Silver anniversary edition). Edition: Silver anniversary. Written By: Gerald Weinberg. Published originally: 1971. Republished: 2011. Chapter: 5.
Keywords: Rule_quotes Programmer_quotes Team_quotes Work_quotes Productivity_quotes Ability_quotes Coordination_quotes Problem_quotes Rough_quotes

Egoless Programming and John von Neumann

“Programming groups who have conquered the ego problem do exist and have existed from the earliest days of computing. John von Neumann himself was perhaps the first programmer to recognize his inadequacies with respect to examination of his own work. Those who knew him have said that he was constantly asserting what a lousy programmer he was, and that he incessantly pushed his programs on other people to read for errors and clumsiness. Yet the common image today of von Neumann is of the unparalleled computing genius — flawless in his every action. And indeed, there can be no doubt of von Neumann's genius. His very ability to realize his human limitations put him head and shoulders above the average programmer today. Average people can be trained to accept their humanity — their inability to function like a machine — and to value it and work with others so as to keep it under the kind of control needed if programming is to be successful.”
  • Source: Chapter 4. Weinberg, G. M. (2011). The Psychology of Computer Programming (Silver anniversary edition) | 1971. Weinberg & Weinberg.
Keywords: Egoless_quotes Programming_quotes Group_quotes Conquer_quotes Ego_quotes Computing_quotes Neumann_quotes Programmer_quotes Recognition_quotes Inadequacy_quotes Examination_quotes Peer_Review_quotes Error_quotes Clumsy_quotes Genius_quotes Flawless_quotes Action_quotes Doubt_quotes Ability_quotes Human_Limitations_quotes Training_quotes Humanity_quotes Functional_quotes Machine_quotes Control_quotes Success_quotes Problem_quotes Exist_quotes Earliest_quotes Respect_quotes Work_quotes Constant_quotes Assert_quotes Lousy_quotes Incessant_quotes Push_quotes People_quotes Read_quotes Image_quotes Unparallel_quotes Realize_quotes Human_quotes Limitation_quotes Head_quotes Shoulder_quotes Above_quotes Average_quotes Inability_quotes Value_quotes

True Consensus on Group Goals

“To achieve true consensus on group goals, there is no better method than having the group set the goals itself... To be sure, not every programming team can be permitted to set whatever goals it happens to fancy at any moment. A team is usually constituted to accomplish some task which has probably been set down before the team was even assembled. But programming tasks are not usually specified too precisely until much later than team formation, so that unless the upper management is very overbearing, much meaningful and interesting goal setting can be done by the team members in concert. The greatest danger is the manager who has come up through the programming ranks and wants to define every bit and byte before the team even sees the problem. Nothing is more sure to dampen the team enthusiasm and make them feel that they are 'mere coders... Of course, it is best if each team can have a single clearly defined goal, but the world is seldom so simple... When a team is not fully apprised of the emphasis to be placed on each factor, the members of that team may very well be working at cross purposes.”
  • Source: Chapter 5. Weinberg, G. M. (2011). The Psychology of Computer Programming (Silver anniversary edition) | 1971. Weinberg & Weinberg.
Keywords: True_quotes Achievement_quotes Consensus_quotes Group_quotes Goal_quotes Methodology_quotes Empowerment_quotes Programming_quotes Team_quotes Assignment_quotes Task_quotes Precision_quotes Later_quotes Before_quotes Management_quotes Overbearing_quotes Meaning_quotes Cooperation_quotes Danger_quotes Rank_quotes PreSpecification_quotes Requirements_quotes Problem_quotes Enthusiasm_quotes Coder_quotes Mere_Coders_quotes Clarity_quotes Singleness_quotes World_quotes Simplicity_quotes Complexity_quotes Emphasis_quotes Factor_quotes Work_quotes Cross_Purpose_quotes Assemble_quotes Interesting_quotes Concert_quotes Define_quotes Dampen_quotes Feel_quotes Member_quotes Cross_quotes Purpose_quotes

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

H_G_Wells

Competent Receiver

“This complex problem of the competent receiver is the underlying problem of most of our constructive politics. It is imperative that every voter should have some conception of the experiments in economic control that are in progress in Great Britain, the United States of America, Italy, Germany, Russia, and elsewhere. Such experiments are going to affect the whole of his or her life profoundly. So, too, are the experiments in monetary and financial organization. Many of the issues involved go further than general principles. They are quantitative issues.”
  • Source: Wells, H. G. (1938). World Brain chap. II (The Brain Organization of the Modern World). London, UK: Methuen and Co. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/
Keywords: Complex_quotes Problem_quotes Competence_quotes Receiver_quotes Underlying_quotes Construct_quotes Political_quotes Imperative_quotes Voter_quotes Conception_quotes Experiment_quotes Economics_quotes Control_quotes Progress_quotes Great_Britain_quotes United_States_quotes Italy_quotes Germany_quotes Russia_quotes Affect_quotes Life_quotes Profound_quotes Monetary_quotes Financial_quotes Organization_quotes Issue_quotes Involve_quotes Generality_quotes Principle_quotes Quantitative_quotes

Stephen_Wolfram

Foundational Math Problem

“Here's the foundational problem. The mathematics you need is completely unknown. We're trying to build it, but here's how it works. If you study calculus, you'll study univariant calculus, calculus of one variable. You'll study multivariant calculus, calculus where there's variables x, y, z, and so on. What we need is calculus where there are fractional number of variables, and nobody has ever figured that out. Nobody has even tried to study that. When you look at the kind of geometry that emerges from these hypergraphs and things you end up needing to know about things like calculus in 3.1 dimensions. That's simply a mathematical structure that hasn't been built. We're in the process of building it, but it is a fairly heavy lift. That's a deep, foundational piece of mathematics that has to be built...”
  • Source: Spoken by Stephen Wolfram in a video interview with Brian Keating recorded in the YouTube video ‘What is Time? Stephen Wolfram’s Groundbreaking New Theory’ published on channel ‘Dr. Brian Keating’ on 2024-12-02. Video offset 1:32:08. Online at https://youtu.be/c-RO3vM10Ok?si=i-XspeEtzqA3jPl9 retrieved 2024.
Keywords: Foundation_quotes Problem_quotes Mathematics_quotes Need_quotes Complete_quotes Unknown_quotes Try_quotes Build_quotes Work_quotes Study_quotes Calculus_quotes Univariant_quotes Multivariant_quotes Fraction_quotes Number_quotes Variable_quotes Nobody_quotes Figure_quotes Kind_quotes Geometry_quotes Emerge_quotes Hypergraph_quotes Know_quotes Dimension_quotes Structure_quotes Heavy_quotes Lift_quotes Deep_quotes Piece_quotes

Edward_Yourdon

Better Programming Languages

“Better coding techniques may do nothing more than help you arrive at a disaster sooner than before. Better programming languages, used without anything else, may be just what your programmers need to develop a brilliant solution to the wrong problem.”
  • Source: Edward Yourdon in the book “Decline and Fall of the American Programmer”. Published in 1992 by Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0-13-203670-3. Chapter 2, section 2.1, page 27.
Keywords: Better_quotes Coding_quotes Technique_quotes Nothing_quotes Help_quotes Arrive_quotes Disaster_quotes Soon_quotes Programming_quotes Language_quotes Use_quotes Need_quotes Programmer_quotes Develop_quotes Brilliant_quotes Solution_quotes Wrong_quotes Problem_quotes

Shoshana_Zuboff

Natural Attitude

“The most treacherous enemy of such research is what philosophers call ‘the natural attitude,’ our capacity to live daily life in a way that takes for granted the objects and activities that surround us. Even when we encounter new objects in our environment, our tendency is to experience them in terms of categories and qualities with which we are already familiar. The natural attitude allows us to assume and predict a great many things about each other's behavior without first establishing premises at the outset of every interaction. The natural attitude can also stand in the way of awareness, for ordinary experience has to be made extraordinary in order to become accessible to reflection. This occurs when we encounter a problem: when our actions do not yield the expected results, we are caught by surprise and so are motivated to reflect upon our initial assumptions. Awareness requires a rupture with the world we take for granted; then old categories of experience are called into question and revised.”
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 13. ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: Enemy_quotes Research_quotes Natural_quotes Attitude_quotes Capacity_quotes Object_quotes Activity_quotes Environment_quotes Experience_quotes Category_quotes Quality_quotes Familiarity_quotes Assumption_quotes Prediction_quotes Behavior_quotes Premise_quotes Interaction_quotes Problem_quotes Awareness_quotes Extraordinary_quotes Accessibility_quotes Reflection_quotes Thinking_quotes Expectation_quotes Result_quotes Surprise_quotes Motivation_quotes World_quotes Rupture_quotes Question_quotes Revision_quotes Treacherous_quotes Philosopher_quotes Call_quotes Live_quotes Daily_quotes Way_quotes Surround_quotes Outset_quotes Stand_quotes Ordinary_quotes Action_quotes Yield_quotes Initial_quotes

Skill and Effort

“These twin functions of the body -- as a source of skill and as a source of efforts -- complicated the way in which employers confronted the problems of labor discipline and the speed with which they invested in labor-saving technology, just as they complicated workers' responses to that technology.”
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 36. ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: Body_quotes Skill_quotes Effort_quotes Employment_quotes Labor_quotes Technology_quotes Worker_quotes Work_quotes Automation_quotes Twin_quotes Function_quotes Source_quotes Complicated_quotes Way_quotes Problem_quotes Confront_quotes Discipline_quotes Speed_quotes Invest_quotes Response_quotes

Manager Panic

“People at every organizational level -- managers, engineers, and operators -- each spent a good deal of time speculating on the sources of this dynamic and its ultimate consequences. One top manager maintained that the core of the problem was the lack of an alternative to the traditional managerial function. ‘The problem is that managers don't have skills and knowledge or a vision of their new role. They are asking, What is going to happen to me? And so they are in a panic.'”
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 251. ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: People_quotes Organization_quotes Hierarchy_quotes Consequence_quotes Tradition_quotes Skill_quotes Knowledge_quotes Vision_quotes Uncertainty_quotes Panic_quotes Level_quotes Manager_quotes Engineer_quotes Operator_quotes Time_quotes Speculate_quotes Source_quotes Dynamic_quotes Ultimate_quotes Top_quotes Maintain_quotes Core_quotes Problem_quotes Lack_quotes Alternative_quotes Function_quotes Role_quotes Happen_quotes
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