Re: Knowledge and Ignorance over Time

frosty wrote: 
David Cressey wrote:

Paul C. said that he's still far from a database expert. So am I. But I've been learning, since about 1980.

Over time  (a long time!)  I've noticed a pattern in the growth of my
knowledge.

If my knowledge base is likened to a sphere in a boundless universe,
here's the pattern:

My apparent knowledge grows like the radius of the sphere  (like R).
My apparent ignorance grows like the surface area of the sphere
(like R squared).
And the number of things I must keep in my head grows like the
volume of the sphere  (like R cubed).

At some point,  this looks like a case of diminishing marginal
returns.  But I wouldn't choose to go back to being as ignorant as I
was when I was twenty,  even if I got to be as smart as I was when I
was twenty.


Jay Dee wrote:

Close, but:
Area of a sphere = 4 pi r^2
Volume of a sphere = 4/3 pi r^3



I believe the word "like," in this context, means "in proportion to."
So, you are both right.

No "correction" was intended -- just clarification.  Picky?  You bet.
Prickly?  Sorry if it seemed that way; pedantic precision might be
expected in a group named *.theory.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Knowledge and Ignorance over Time
    ... Over time I've noticed a pattern in the growth of my ... My apparent knowledge grows like the radius of the sphere. ... My apparent ignorance grows like the surface area of the sphere (like R ...
    (comp.databases.theory)
  • Re: Knowledge and Ignorance over Time
    ... >> Over time I've noticed a pattern in the growth of my ... >> My apparent knowledge grows like the radius of the sphere. ... >> My apparent ignorance grows like the surface area of the sphere ...
    (comp.databases.theory)
  • Re: Knowledge and Ignorance over Time
    ... > My apparent knowledge grows like the radius of the sphere. ... > My apparent ignorance grows like the surface area of the sphere (like R ... A consequence of this, also, is that the maximum amount of information ...
    (comp.databases.theory)
  • Re: Knowledge and Ignorance over Time
    ... My apparent knowledge grows like the radius of the sphere. ... My apparent ignorance grows like the surface area of the sphere (like R ...
    (comp.databases.theory)
  • Re: Dyson Sphere detection and future technology criteria
    ... re-radiate a lot of a star's energy at infrafred wavelengths. ... The Dyson Sphere presumes an organism smart enough to build it but too ... A shell surrounding a star has considerably more surface area. ... Rather like a cylinder. ...
    (talk.origins)