Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by zeteo 5765 days ago
Basically I think we agree but have slightly different definitions of mathematics and logics. I just think that purely mathematical errors are relatively rare (and hard to observe, since even where formal proofs are given they often skip a lot of steps, and require higher mathematics).
1 comments

"I just think that purely mathematical errors are relatively rare"

It's more common than you would think.

Math error equals loss of Mars orbiter NASA reported Sept. 30 that it had lost the $125 million Mars Climate Orbiter because the force exerted by the orbiter's thrusters remained in the system of units based on pounds and feet rather than being converted to metric. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_15_156/ai_571...

A cosmic mistake Mankind's first cosmic message, beamed to the stars on Monday, contains two mathematical errors, it has been revealed. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/353409.stm

Misuse of statistics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misuse_of_statistics