Uncertainty quotes

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Edward_Emil_David

Competitive Rush

"Computing has one property, unique I think, that seriously aggravates the uncertainties associated with software efforts. In computing, the research, development, and production phases are often telescoped into one process. In the competitive rush to make available the latest techniques, such as on-line consoles served by time-shared computers, we strive to take great forward leaps across gulfs of unknown width and depth."
Keywords: Software_Engineering_quotes Computer_quotes Uncertainty_quotes Effort_quotes Research_quotes Development_quotes Production_quotes Telescope_quotes Process_quotes Competition_quotes Unknown_quotes Scope_quotes Requirements_quotes Property_quotes Unique_quotes Aggravate_quotes Software_quotes Engineering_quotes Phase_quotes Technique_quotes Console_quotes Timeshare_quotes Strive_quotes Forward_quotes Leap_quotes Gulf_quotes Width_quotes Depth_quotes

Freeman_Dyson

Science Uncertain

“The fringe of physics is not a sharp boundary with truth on one side and fantasy on the other. All of science is uncertain and subject to revision. The glory of science is to imagine more than we can prove. The fringe is the unexplored territory where truth and fantasy are not yet disentangled.”
  • Source: Freeman Dyson [book/author]; “Dreams of Earth and Sky” [title]; 192 [page]; New York Review Books [publisher]; First [edition]; 2015 [pubdate]; New York, NY [publoc]; 978-1590178546 [isbn].
Keywords: Science_quotes Uncertainty_quotes Revision_quotes Glory_quotes Imagination_quotes Proof_quotes Fringe_quotes Physics_quotes Sharp_quotes Boundary_quotes Truth_quotes Side_quotes Fantasy_quotes Unexplored_quotes Territory_quotes Disentangle_quotes


Jim_Elvidge

100% True

“The set of things that are 100% true is simply the null set!”
  • Source: In chapter 1 of the book The Universe - Solved!; written by Jim Elvidge; published in 2007 by Alternate Theories Press; ISBN 978-1-4243-3626-5.
Keywords: Truth_quotes Uncertainty_quotes Certainty_quotes Null_quotes Set_quotes

Paul_Feyerabend

Theory Never Agrees with All Facts

“No single theory ever agrees with all the facts in its domain.”
  • Source: Paul Feyerabend, Against Method (1st ed.) (1975) p. 33
    • Paul Feyerabend, Against Method (3rd ed.) (1993) p. 39
Keywords: Fact_quotes Theory_quotes Domain_quotes Uncertainty_quotes

Milton_Friedman

Positive Knowledge

“In both social and natural sciences, the body of positive knowledge grows by the failure of a tentative hypothesis to predict phenomena the hypothesis professes to explain; by the patching up of that hypothesis until someone suggests a new hypothesis that more elegantly or simply embodies the troublesome phenomena, and so on ad infinitum. In both, experiment is sometimes possible, sometimes not (witness meteorology). In both, no experiment is ever completely controlled, and experience often offers evidence that is the equivalent of controlled experiment. In both, there is no way to have a self-contained closed system or to avoid interaction between the observer and the observed. The Gödel theorem in mathematics, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle in physics, the self-fulfilling or self-defeating prophecy in the social sciences all exemplify these limitations.”
  • Source: Milton Friedman, Inflation and Unemployment (1976), 348
Keywords: Society_quotes Nature_quotes Science_quotes Knowledge_quotes Failure_quotes Tentative_quotes Hypothesis_quotes Prediction_quotes Phenomena_quotes Explanation_quotes Elegant_quotes Infinity_quotes Experiment_quotes Meteorology_quotes Control_quotes Evidence_quotes Equal_quotes Closed_quotes System_quotes Avoidance_quotes Interaction_quotes Observation_quotes Measurement_quotes Uncertainty_quotes Mathematics_quotes Principle_quotes Physics_quotes Self-Fulfill_quotes Self-Defeat_quotes Prophecy_quotes Limitation_quotes Positive_quotes Grow_quotes Suggest_quotes Troublesome_quotes Gödel(topic)_quotes Heisenberg(topic)_quotes

John_Gribbin

Scientific Method

“The Big Idea that had been developed in the seventeenth century ... is now known as the scientific method. It says that the way to proceed when investigating how the world works is to first carry out experiments and/or make observations of the natural world. Then, develop hypotheses to explain these observations, and (crucially) use the hypothesis to make predictions about the future outcome of future experiments and/or observations. After comparing the results of those new observations with the predictions of the hypotheses, discard those hypotheses which make false predictions, and retain (at least, for the time being) any hypothesis that makes accurate predictions, elevating it to the status of a theory. Note that a theory can never be proved right. The best that can be said is that it has passed all the tests applied so far.”
  • Source: John R. Gribbin. In The Fellowship: the Story of a Revolution (2005), 275.
Keywords: Scientific_Method_quotes Idea_quotes Development_quotes Investigation_quotes World_quotes Experiment_quotes Observation_quotes Prediction_quotes Hypothesis_quotes Explanation_quotes Future_quotes Result_quotes Falsification_quotes Accuracy_quotes Theory_quotes Proof_quotes Testing_quotes Certainty_quotes Uncertainty_quotes Nature_quotes False_quotes Retain_quotes Discard_quotes Elevate_quotes Pass_quotes Test_quotes

Werner_Heisenberg

Observations

“If we want to describe what happens in an atomic event, we have to realize that the word ‘happens’ can only apply to the observation, not to the state of affairs between two observations.”
  • Source: Heisenberg, W.(1958) Physics and Philosophy, chap. 3.
Keywords: Description_quotes Atomic_quotes Event_quotes Causality_quotes Observation_quotes Uncertainty_quotes Quantum_quotes Realize_quotes Happen_quotes

Daniel_Kahneman

Who Can We Trust

“We often interact with professionals who exercise their judgment with evident confidence, sometimes priding themselves on the power of their intuition. In a world rife with illusions of validity and skill, can we trust them? How do we distinguish the justified confidence of experts from the sincere overconfidence of professionals who do not know they are out of their depth? We can believe an expert who admits uncertainty but cannot take expressions of high confidence at face value. As I first learned on the obstacle field, people come up with coherent stories and confident predictions even when they know little or nothing. Overconfidence arises because people are often blind to their own blindness.”
  • Source: "Don’t Blink! The Hazards of Confidence". New York Times. October 19, 2011.
Keywords: Interaction_quotes Professional_quotes Exercise_quotes Judgment_quotes Confidence_quotes Pride_quotes Power_quotes Intuition_quotes World_quotes Illusion_quotes Validity_quotes Skill_quotes Trust_quotes Distinguish_quotes Justification_quotes Expert_quotes Sincerity_quotes Depth_quotes Belief_quotes Uncertainty_quotes Expression_quotes Face_quotes Value_quotes Obstacle_quotes Coherence_quotes Story_quotes Prediction_quotes Knowledge_quotes Overconfidence_quotes Blind_quotes Bias_quotes

Bertrand_Russell

Pure Mathematics

“Pure mathematics consists entirely of assertions to the effect that, if such and such a proposition is true of anything, then such and such another proposition is true of that thing. It is essential not to discuss whether the first proposition is really true, and not to mention what the anything is, of which it is supposed to be true. Both these points would belong to applied mathematics. We start, in pure mathematics, from certain rules of inference, by which we can infer that if one proposition is true, then so is some other proposition. These rules of inference constitute the major part of the principles of formal logic. We then take any hypothesis that seems amusing and deduce its consequences. If our hypothesis is about anything, and not about some one or more particular things, then our deductions constitute mathematics. Thus mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true. People who have been puzzled by the beginnings of mathematics will, I hope, find comfort in this definition, and will probably agree that it is accurate.”
  • Source: “Recent Work on the Principles of Mathematics”, published in 1901 within International Monthly, Vol. 4. later published as the essay “Mathematics and the Metaphysicians” within the book “Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays” by Bertrand Russell published in 1917 by George Allen & Unwin, London, England.
Keywords: Pure_quotes Mathematics_quotes Consist_quotes Entire_quotes Assertion_quotes Effect_quotes Proposal_quotes True_quotes Essential_quotes Discussion_quotes First_quotes Mention_quotes Suppose_quotes Point_quotes Belong_quotes Application_quotes Certainty_quotes Rule_quotes Inference_quotes Constitute_quotes Major_quotes Part_quotes Principle_quotes Formal_quotes Logic_quotes Hypothesis_quotes Amuse_quotes Deduction_quotes Consequence_quotes Causality_quotes Particular_quotes Definition_quotes Subject_quotes Knowledge_quotes Uncertainty_quotes Talking_quotes Speak_quotes People_quotes Puzzle_quotes Confusion_quotes Begin_quotes Comfort_quotes Accuracy_quotes

Herbert_Simon

Uncertainty

“In facing uncertainty, standardization and coordination, achieved through agreed-upon assumptions and specifications, may be more effective than prediction. Uncertainty calls for flexibility.”
Keywords: Uncertainty_quotes Standards_quotes Coordination_quotes Achievement_quotes Agreement_quotes Assumption_quotes Specification_quotes Effectiveness_quotes Prediction_quotes Flexibility_quotes

Edward_Teller

Predictions Are Dangerous

“One may say that predictions are dangerous particularly for the future. If the danger involved in a prediction is not incurred, no consequence follows and the uncertainty principle is not violated.”
  • Source: Edward Teller, Wendy Teller and Wilson Talley, Conversations from the Dark Side of Physics (1991, 2002), 235.
Keywords: Say_quotes Prediction_quotes Danger_quotes Future_quotes Involve_quotes Incur_quotes Consequence_quotes Follow_quotes Uncertainty_quotes Principle_quotes Violation_quotes

Gerald_Weinberg

Only Fools Are Certain

“Only fools are certain ― we think.”
  • Source: Weinberg, Gerald (2011-06-03). Passive Regulation: General Systems Design Principles (General Systems Thinking) (Kindle Location 3339). Weinberg & Weinberg. Kindle Edition.
Keywords: Fool_quotes Certainty_quotes Thinking_quotes Uncertainty_quotes

Small Teams More Efficient

“In any case, the basic rule for size and composition of programming teams would seem to be this — for the best programming at the least cost, give the best possible programmers you can find sufficient time so you need the smallest number of them. When you have to work faster, or with less experienced people, costs and uncertainties will rise. In any case, the worst way to do a programming project is to hire a horde of trainees and put them to work under pressure and without supervision — although this is the most common practice today.”
  • Source: Chapter 5. Weinberg, G. M. (2011). The Psychology of Computer Programming (Silver anniversary edition) | 1971. Weinberg & Weinberg.
Keywords: Rule_quotes Size_quotes Programming_quotes Programmer_quotes Team_quotes Cost_quotes Slack_quotes Time_quotes Fast_quotes Experience_quotes People_quotes Hiring_quotes Training_quotes Pressure_quotes Supervision_quotes Management_quotes Practice_quotes Common_quotes Basic_quotes Composition_quotes Quality_quotes Small_quotes Rise_quotes Uncertainty_quotes Worse_quotes Way_quotes Project_quotes Horde_quotes Trainee_quotes Work_quotes

Shoshana_Zuboff

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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