From: Mark Steven Heyman (MarkHeyman@infoproconsulting.com)
Date: Wed Apr 13 2005 - 03:52:11 BST
Hi Ian,
Last one from me on this digression.
On 13 Apr 2005 at 7:17, ian glendinning wrote:
Sorry Mark, nice try, but I just don't buy that, and I don't actually
believe you would be that disingenuous.
You actually said
The outcome is ALL they care about. They wanna land that
spacecraft, complete that circuit, build that bridge. What they
don't care about is the literal truth of their assumptions. In
fact, they care so little about the "truth" of the assumptions that,
if the assumptions get in the way of orbiting the satellite, they
will DROP the assumptions. This is pragmatism in action.
It's your emphasis on "ALL"
msh says:
I think you're being a little over sensitive. It should be clear
from the overall context of the argument that I am speaking about
engineers in the process of solving engineering problems.
Let me stick to something I know a little about. If I'm having
problems debugging a program, stepping through the code using break
points and evaluating variables, finding nothing unexpected, the
next thing I think about is the various algorithms used in the design
of the program. Maybe my models, my assumptions no matter how dear,
my "recipes" for solving the problem are wrong. If so, I would
change them, or scrap them altogether. I have no emotional
attachment to them. In relation to the success of the program, my
assumptions have to significance at all. This is true of every
software engineer I've ever met. If it's not true for the vast
majority people who design bridges and airplanes and cars, then I'm
afriad my travel plans are in for severe alteration as well.
Best,
Mark
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