Math can only be performed on numbers you actually measure, not on the "underlying reality" you cannot perceive This is basic to how science works, if you forget about it you fuck things up https://t.co/3uCfkl2cxs
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Replying to @arthur_affect
If an imprecise measurement is going to fuck up your experiment... Get a more precise instrument.
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Replying to @FerretOTR
There's no such thing as an infinitely precise instrument Hence when you're doing any kind of real observation you need to be conscious of what the actual precision of the instrument you're using is
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Replying to @arthur_affect @FerretOTR
My God this isn't even college-level "critical theory" stuff this actually literally is the section of the high school chemistry textbook about "significant digits" What the hell is wrong with you people
2 replies 1 retweet 45 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect
If you have 1 significant digit and are adding two values, then you only factor in the values you encountered at the level of significance. If you re-measure afterwards, you're not adding. You're re-measuring and defeating the purpose of using a significant digit.
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Replying to @FerretOTR
Yes, in this sense "2+2=5" is a statement that putting naive faith in the addition function (where it's a rule that 2+2 always = 4) is a mistake "Always make them weigh them together if you can", don't unnecessarily allow rounding errors to accumulate
2 replies 1 retweet 9 likes
I am saying that there is one framing in which the statement "2+2=5" expresses an important truth There are others, that a professor of mathematics might find more interesting (modular arithmetic and the like)
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