From: mheaney@ni.net (Matthew Heaney)
Subject: Re: subjectivity
Date: 1997/09/05
Date: 1997-09-05T00:00:00+00:00 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <mheaney-ya023680000509972147430001@news.ni.net> (raw)
In-Reply-To: 341026A7.37BE@pseserv3.fw.hac.com
In article <341026A7.37BE@pseserv3.fw.hac.com>, "W. Wesley Groleau x4923"
<wwgrol@pseserv3.fw.hac.com> wrote:
>Since you and other(s), by your own admission, have "different
>ideas of what is simple," you should acknowledge that it is not
>"uniformly recognisable by everyone." Hence, it is subjective
>except when, in a particular forum, all participants agree on
>(in your words) "what measurable qualities engender the notion
>of simplicity and ... an 'objective' basis for measuring it."
Here's a quote relevent to this thread:
The idea that complexity is directly related to people's psychological
being was recognized by Ashby. He argues that complexity depends on
people's interests:
"to the neurophysiologist the brain, as a feltwork of fibers and a soup of
enzymes, is certainly complex; and equally the transmission of a detailed
description of it would require much time. To a butcher the brain is
simple, for he has to distinguish it from only about thirty other "meats.""
From Dealing with Complexity, by Flood and Carson
They also observe that
"In general, we associate complexity with anything we find difficult to
understand."
That's why complexity can only be understood by considering both people
_and_ things. There is no such thing as an "objective" measure of
simplicity or complexity, because humans are involved, and every human has
a different view of the system, depending on his interest. To the butcher,
the brain isn't complex at all.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Matthew Heaney
Software Development Consultant
<mailto:matthew_heaney@acm.org>
(818) 985-1271
next prev parent reply other threads:[~1997-09-05 0:00 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 82+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
1997-08-21 0:00 Critique of Ariane 5 paper (finally!) aek
[not found] ` <33FC66AD.9A0799D4@calfp.co.uk>
1997-08-22 0:00 ` Robert S. White
1997-08-22 0:00 ` Samuel Mize
1997-08-22 0:00 ` Samuel Mize
1997-08-23 0:00 ` Ken Garlington
[not found] ` <33FFA4B1.3543@flash.net>
1997-08-26 0:00 ` Nick Leaton
[not found] ` <3403940F.4154@pseserv3.fw.hac.com>
1997-08-27 0:00 ` Design By Contract Ted Velkoff
[not found] ` <5u3c6v$gtf$2@miranda.gmrc.gecm.com>
[not found] ` <34058808.3BF@pseserv3.fw.hac.com>
1997-08-28 0:00 ` Darren New
1997-08-28 0:00 ` Patrick Doyle
1997-09-06 0:00 ` Joachim Durchholz
1997-09-06 0:00 ` Patrick Doyle
[not found] ` <JSA.97Aug27180328@alexandria.organon.com>
1997-08-28 0:00 ` W. Wesley Groleau x4923
1997-09-03 0:00 ` Don Harrison
1997-09-03 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
1997-09-04 0:00 ` Don Harrison
[not found] ` <EFM140.Fy9@syd.csa.com.au>
1997-08-28 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
1997-08-29 0:00 ` Patrick Doyle
1997-08-29 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
[not found] ` <EFqDw0.3x7@ecf.toronto.edu>
[not found] ` <JSA.97Aug30145354@alexandria.organon.com>
1997-09-01 0:00 ` Patrick Doyle
1997-08-29 0:00 ` Don Harrison
1997-08-29 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
[not found] ` <EFqE8L.4Eq@ecf.toronto.edu>
[not found] ` <JSA.97Aug30145058@alexandria.organon.com>
1997-09-01 0:00 ` Patrick Doyle
1997-09-02 0:00 ` Don Harrison
1997-09-02 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
1997-09-03 0:00 ` Don Harrison
[not found] ` <JSA.97Sep3201329@alexandria.organon.com>
1997-09-04 0:00 ` Paul Johnson
1997-09-05 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
[not found] ` <5un58u$9ih$1@gonzo.sun3.iaf.nl>
1997-09-06 0:00 ` Building blocks (Was: Design By Contract) Joachim Durchholz
1997-09-08 0:00 ` Paul Johnson
1997-09-08 0:00 ` Brian Rogoff
1997-09-09 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1997-09-09 0:00 ` Brian Rogoff
1997-09-09 0:00 ` W. Wesley Groleau x4923
1997-09-10 0:00 ` Robert A Duff
1997-09-12 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
1997-09-10 0:00 ` Paul Johnson
1997-09-10 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1997-09-10 0:00 ` Darren New
1997-09-10 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1997-09-12 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
1997-09-12 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1997-09-16 0:00 ` Brian Rogoff
1997-09-12 0:00 ` Paul Johnson
1997-09-14 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1997-09-14 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1997-09-15 0:00 ` John G. Volan
1997-09-14 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1997-09-09 0:00 ` W. Wesley Groleau x4923
1997-09-09 0:00 ` Veli-Pekka Nousiainen
1997-09-09 0:00 ` Veli-Pekka Nousiainen
1997-09-09 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
1997-09-08 0:00 ` Design By Contract Nick Leaton
1997-09-08 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1997-09-09 0:00 ` Paul Johnson
[not found] ` <EFzLn7.481@ecf.toronto.edu>
1997-09-04 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
[not found] ` <EFz0pD.E6n@syd.csa.com.au>
1997-09-05 0:00 ` W. Wesley Groleau x4923
1997-09-05 0:00 ` subjectivity W. Wesley Groleau x4923
1997-09-05 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney [this message]
1997-09-10 0:00 ` subjectivity Don Harrison
1997-09-12 0:00 ` subjectivity Jon S Anthony
1997-09-16 0:00 ` subjectivity Don Harrison
1997-09-16 0:00 ` subjectivity Jon S Anthony
1997-09-10 0:00 ` subjectivity Don Harrison
1997-09-10 0:00 ` subjectivity W. Wesley Groleau x4923
1997-09-10 0:00 ` subjectivity W. Wesley Groleau x4923
1997-09-11 0:00 ` subjectivity Don Harrison
[not found] ` <JSA.97Sep4172912@alexandria.organon.com>
[not found] ` <EG0oz8.F6M@syd.csa.com.au>
[not found] ` <EG0rp7.GtL@syd.csa.com.au>
1997-09-05 0:00 ` Design By Contract Matthew Heaney
1997-09-05 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
1997-09-05 0:00 ` Nick Leaton
1997-09-08 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
1997-09-09 0:00 ` Nick Leaton
1997-09-10 0:00 ` Paul Johnson
1997-09-06 0:00 ` Patrick Doyle
1997-09-09 0:00 ` Robert A Duff
1997-09-09 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1997-09-02 0:00 ` Joerg Rodemann
1997-09-02 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
1997-08-28 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1997-08-29 0:00 ` Don Harrison
[not found] ` <349224633wnr@eiffel.demon.co.uk>
1997-08-27 0:00 ` Design by Contract Robert Dewar
1997-08-29 0:00 ` Don Harrison
[not found] ` <3406BEF7.2FC3@flash.net>
[not found] ` <3406E0F7.6FF7ED99@calfp.co.uk>
1997-09-02 0:00 ` Critique of Ariane 5 paper (finally!) Ken Garlington
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