Orwell wrote a whole essay specifically about the fact that it struck him one day that he knew the world was round but only from books, and spent a while trying to think of how he could personally convince himself of this based on his own experience
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It was an interesting piece because it talks about how the world is getting bigger and expertise more specialized and the shibboleths that mark an "educated person" increasingly dependent on faith in institutions I doubt he'd be backing your take (though he could be an asshole)
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Replying to @arthur_affect @kareem_carr
You don't seem to know that 2 + 2 = 5 has a specific role in Orwell, and in preceding literature. And I quote, from Orwell writing about Nazi propaganda: "If he says that two and two are five – well, two and two are five. This prospect frightens me much more than bombs."
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Replying to @arthur_affect @kareem_carr
That actually isn't a quote from 1984... But yes, it's very much in there there too. This is an actual fact: you're literalizing Orwell.
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You do realize that you are the one arguing for uncritical taught knowledge, which is exactly what Orwell was referring to. Unquestioning acceptance of ideas. In this case, 2+2=4. When that's not always true due to the imprecise status of reality.
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Replying to @ArcaneHedge @Aya62335284 and
You must hate computers...all 1's and 0's...and nothing else...and the 1's had better be 1's and the 0's better be 0's or the whole thing collapses...
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Replying to @tvvittere @Aya62335284 and
Uh. In reality even 1s and 0s are made of electricity (either current or voltage), and therefore fundamentally analog. There's IEEE standards about how much current (or voltage) should count as a "1" in different circumstances; this concept is called "logic levels".
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Replying to @iridienne @tvvittere and
Yup and I remember reading fascinating shit long ago about how "ambiguous states" are impossible to prevent and glitches will always happen, which is why chips need robust error correction built in
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Replying to @arthur_affect @iridienne and
And I remember the Tacoma Narrows Bridge...I have a ring made from the "remains", as kind of a pledge to reality and good engineering...not "woke math"
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Is it "woke math" to assume that measurements contain a certain degree of imprecision and therefore all structures must be built within generous tolerances My impression is that "math is always fuzzy, be humble" is, in fact, the WHOLE POINT of that lesson
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Replying to @arthur_affect @iridienne and
If that's your point, well taken...but still, 2+2=4. Measurement science and the propagation of errors is a completely different topic.
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Replying to @tvvittere @iridienne and
It really isn't, it is the topic I don't understand why you think saying "2+2=4" over and over again in order to defy Hitler even counts as a "topic"
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End of conversation
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