Is Exactness necessary?

[Lightkeeper]

Aristotle - "It is the mark of an educated mind to rest satisfied with the degree of precision which the nature of the subject admits and not to seek exactness where only an approximation is possible."

Is this true?

[Astreja]

Well, I don't know if we'll be able to prove it to be exactly true.

I do agree with Aristotle, however. Our senses are limited in scope, so it's unlikely that we will be able to assess any phenomenon with great precision. The tools that we use can be fairly exact, but even if they were perfect would we be in a position to know it?

And then there's the constant change that permeates the universe, so what is true now may not be true five seconds later.

In my experience, approximations are more than adequate in every situation I've encountered.

[Eolas Pellor]

I would have to say that I agree with Aristotle on this.

[octavius]

Originally Posted by Astreja

Well, I don't know if we'll be able to prove it to be exactly true.

I do agree with Aristotle, however. Our senses are limited in scope, so it's unlikely that we will be able to assess any phenomenon with great precision. The tools that we use can be fairly exact, but even if they were perfect would we be in a position to know it?

And then there's the constant change that permeates the universe, so what is true now may not be true five seconds later.

In my experience, approximations are more than adequate in every situation I've encountered.

Kudos. All "truth" is subjective!

[vivamis123]

I think I disagree, if I understood Aristotle right.

If he is saying that we should rest satisfied not seeking exactness, I disagree.
I seek exactness yet not in the result, but in the intent I set out to accomplish.

With other words, I seek exactness in my intent to never harm anyone or anything and always do my best, yet rest satisfied knowing I gave it exactness, even if the message was not received exactly or the result manifests different then my intent.