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INSENSIBLE_TWIST

                                             February 22, 2010


   "Still, it is an error to argue in front
   of your data:  You find yourself insensibly
   twisting them round to fit your theories."
                                                          DIRAC_TRUTH
          -- Holmes, in "The Singular Experience
                         of John Scott Eccles"
             _The Strand Magazine_
             September 1908


   Really, I think Holmes is wrong here:

   You shouldn't be afraid to dive into
   forming a hypothesis, rather you should try
   to form multiple different ones and learn
   to switch between them at will: You need to
   learn to avoid falling in love with just
   one of them.


        We are always adrift in a sea of data:
        the question is which data is relevant,
        which should we focus in on and observe
        carefully.

        Without a theory in mind, collecting
        data at random isn't likely to lead        But then:
        anywhere.                                           
                                                   LAMPPOST
                                                   
                                                   It's better to learn 
                                                   *something* even when 
                                                   you're not sure what 
                                                   you want to know.


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