Richard Wordingham wrote:

> --- In Nostratica@yahoogroups.com,
> "H.M. Hubey" <hubeyh@...> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Piotr Gasiorowski wrote:
> >
> > > 18-06-03 23:34, Miguel
> Carrasquer wrote:
> > >
> > > > On Wed, 18 Jun 2003 10:21:25
> -0400, "H.M. Hubey"
> > > > <hubeyh@...> wrote:
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > >Ok, I see what you mean
> now. When comparing forms without
> looking into
> > > > >history one can easily make
> mistakes. The thing is that I think
> the
> > > > errors
> > > > >are symmetrically
> distributed (e.g. like the
> Gaussian) so that given
> > > > enough
> > > > >data they will cancel out.
> > > >
> > > > Oh my god.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > How to reconstruct a
> Brontosaurus, the Hubey way:
> > > >
> > > > - Take as many bones as you
> can lay your hands on (doesn't
> matter from
> > > > which animal or which part of
> it)
> > > >
> > > > - Randomly glue them
> together.
> > > >
> > > > Since a Brontosaurus has
> Gaussian distribution (in the
> immortal words of
> > > > Anne Elk (Miss): "All
> brontosauruses are thin at one end,
> much
> > > thicker in
> > > > the middle and then thin
> again at the far end"), given
> enough bones, the
> > > > errors will cancel out.
> > > >
> > > > Next week's recipe: Tuna
> salad à la Sumérienne.
> > >
> > > And here's the surest way to
> drive your car straight ahead:
> close your
> > > eyes and let go of the wheel.
> Since the steering mechanism
> prefers
> > > neither direction, the
> distribution of possible courses is
> symmetrical
> > > and any errors will cancel out.
> Do try it out, Hubey!
> > >
> > > Piotr
> > >
> >
> > I guess you guys are asking for a
> discussion of how science is done,
> or
> > should be done,
> > or are you asking what
> mathematics is about?
> An engineering thought from a
> mathematician:
> .
> The signal to noise ratio is very
> low already.

yes, it is.

>
> .
> And a mathematical thought
> .
> What's linear about this process?

Linear is good for learning and teaching. Nonlinear is
extremely bad especially for those that cannot even
handle linear.

PS. Most people know a lot less than they think they do.
What drives them are others who think just like them.

--
Mark Hubey
hubeyh@...
http://www.csam.montclair.edu/~hubey