Daniel_Burfoot comments on Preface to a Proposal for a New Mode of Inquiry - Less Wrong

4 Post author: Daniel_Burfoot 17 May 2010 02:11AM

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Comment author: Daniel_Burfoot 21 May 2010 06:57:17PM 1 point [-]

Maybe an example will clarify the issue. Compare general relativity to a world atlas. Both are computational tools that enable predictions, so both are, by my definition, scientific theories. Now GR is very complex deductively (it relies on complex mathematics), but very simple parametrically (it uses only a couple of constants). The world atlas is the opposite - simple deductively but complex parametrically (requires a lot of bits to specify).