in reply to Re^4: If you believe in Lists in Scalar Context, Clap your Hands
in thread If you believe in Lists in Scalar Context, Clap your Hands
Think of it as JIT context.
Thinking about that brought an old song to mind :)
Abstraction (analogy) underlies all learning more abstract than the "if you put your hand in the fire, you'll get burned" kind. One good abstraction can do more to promote understanding than all the details in extremis ever can.
By modern standards, the Rutherford model is very inaccurate, though far superior to the the Plum Pudding model that preceded it. None the less, the Rutherford model was sufficient to educate a whole generation of new physicists to the point where they could visualise beyond it, and so replace it.
Fortunately it's the kind of time travel that can be implemented by waiting, as long as someone else isn't... :)
And that made me think of a poem (strictly a prayer, but I omit the first word):
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Whilst looking for the exact wording of that, I came across this. The one response is rather interesting, and thought provoking.
There are several thousands years behind the philosophical debate that rages barely shuttered under the surface of that verse: What is the difference between 'knowledge' and 'wisdom'?
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Re^6: If you believe in Lists in Scalar Context, Clap your Hands
by Gavin (Archbishop) on Oct 25, 2008 at 10:07 UTC | |
by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Oct 25, 2008 at 11:11 UTC | |
by Gavin (Archbishop) on Oct 25, 2008 at 12:27 UTC | |
by mr_mischief (Monsignor) on Oct 27, 2008 at 18:34 UTC | |
by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Oct 27, 2008 at 23:40 UTC | |
by Anomynous Monk (Scribe) on Oct 28, 2008 at 07:14 UTC |