tag:dreamwidth.org,2013-05-12:2014669Journey to Ixtlan(are we there yet?)kokopelle2014-02-07T18:12:40Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2013-05-12:2014669:393584Being Smart2014-02-07T18:10:31Z2014-02-07T18:12:40Zcontemplativepublic0<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">My job is part fancy technical writer, part creative tester of software. I was looking over a book I found on testing and debugging and it has the following joke:</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">A Mathematician, a Physicist and an Engineer are all told "all odd numbers are prime". </p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"><strong>Mathematician</strong>: This is silly. 9 is a non-prime odd number.<br /><strong>Physicist</strong>: 3 is prime, 5 is prime, 7 is prime, 9 is experimental error, 11 is prime, 13 is prime, 15 is experimental error, 17 is prime, 19 is prime. The empirical evidence is overwhelming.<br /><strong>Engineer</strong>: 3 is prime, 5 is prime, 7 is prime, 9 is a good approximation, 11 is prime...</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">The conclusion of the text? </p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">Avoid the physicist's error: not trying the right value<br />Avoid the engineer's error: trying the right value, but not noticing the contradiction<br />Be smart like the mathematician: finding the right counter example, with minimum wasted efforts, that contradicts the statement</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> That's my job apparently... being smart like the mathematician.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt"> <br />More "9 is a prime" responses <a href="http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Fun:Proof_that_all_odd_numbers_are_prime">are here</a>.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">As an aside, the REAL response of the mathematician was: 3 is prime, 5 is prime, and 7 is prime. By induction, all the odd integers are prime. </p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=kokopelle&ditemid=393584" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments