ElArte, you can safely ignore anything a certain critic says about me and complex numbers. They are obviously extremely useful in many cases. That's my position, and I haven't said anything to the contrary.
Straw man again, really. Those questions always have small print like "ignoring the pulley friction" - not pretending it doesn't exist but making a calculation based on certain assumptions. Nothing sinister there, just focussing on one part. I've never been taught science as absolutes, or binary (except maybe boolean logic -- 🙂 (joke))
George, Nobody said anything about sinister, just like nobody said complex numbers are useless.
Other than that, I don't see any attempt at a straw man argument. There is a story about a guy's intuition starting from when he was studying for his undergraduate admission exams. He probably didn't have beers with distinguished scientists by that time. He is thinking about what he is being required to do. For him, he considered it as being required to pretend the world was the math. He didn't have trouble with the math. He had trouble with disconnect between mathematically precise models and reality. It didn't sit right with him, didn't feel right.
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When friction is very low compared to other forces involved the caveat “ignoring friction” is an excellent idea.
What if the pully is a piece of rusty iron re-bar? We are missing information about it, so doesn't that leave some uncertainty?
I always thought everything in the quatum world is statistical, so there is a distinctly non-zero, albeit exceedingely small, chance that any particular apple would one day fall upwards.
No?
Jan
Nobody's denying friction.
When teaching basic principles, you need to focus on specific points. When I was in school, we investigated the characteristics of an "ideal" op amp. This was necessary to learn the principles involved with applications. I don't believe that any student thought that any op amp was ideal. We all learned how to examine the parameters AFTER we learned the basic theories of operation.
Just like the friction, in the real world an engineer would get nowhere without understanding the limitations of a "fuzzy" reality.
What did they teach you in engineering school Mark?
When teaching basic principles, you need to focus on specific points. When I was in school, we investigated the characteristics of an "ideal" op amp. This was necessary to learn the principles involved with applications. I don't believe that any student thought that any op amp was ideal. We all learned how to examine the parameters AFTER we learned the basic theories of operation.
Just like the friction, in the real world an engineer would get nowhere without understanding the limitations of a "fuzzy" reality.
What did they teach you in engineering school Mark?
Sure.
But does a brick falling off a building fall up because of quantum theory? I'll believe it when you show me the math. I don't think macro events are subject to quantum mechanics, but I sure could be wrong about that.
@mark4w “What if the pully is a piece of rusty iron re-bar? We are missing information about it, so doesn't that leave some uncertainty?”
jan.didden said:
I always thought everything in the quatum (sic) world is statistical, so there is a distinctly non-zero, albeit exceedingely (sic) small, chance that any particular apple would one day fall upwards.
I always thought everything in the quatum (sic) world is statistical, so there is a distinctly non-zero, albeit exceedingely (sic) small, chance that any particular apple would one day fall upwards.
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@geoffkait, it is considered good form NOT to change words in a statement from somebody else you quote.
Also has to do with honesty. You may want to educate yourself on the meaning of 'quote'.
Jan
Also has to do with honesty. You may want to educate yourself on the meaning of 'quote'.
Jan
I am, and i almost fixed your poor (complete lack) use of the quote function. Please learn how it works
dave
diyAudio moderation team
I wouldn't trust the design of anything from someone who couldn't differentiate between how much apple and how many apples? 🙂
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