The Relativity of Wrong
by Isaac Asimov · first published 1988
63% recommend35% neutral2% critical
Why HN recommends it
Short essay arguing that theories can be wrong without being equally wrong, using the flat versus round Earth example. Cited in debates about science, approximation, and why new theories refine old ones.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Collection of seventeen essays on science "The Moon and We" (April 1986) "The Minor Objects" (May 1986) "The Second Lightest" (June 1986) "Labels on the Molecules" (July 1986) "The Consequences of Pie" (August 1986) "The Enemy Within" (September 1986) "The Relativity of Wrong" (October 1986) "The Unmentionable Planet" (November 1986) "The Dead-End Middle" (December 1986) "Opposite!" (January 1987) "Sail On! Sail On!" (February 1987) "The Incredible Shrinking Planet" (March 1987) "The Light-Bringer" (April 1987) "Beginning With Bone" (May 1987) "New Stars" (June 1987) "Brighte
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…not portray the underlying studies that led to this swing as merely fads. It's progress, and while it's not solved, it's a lot better than just 10 years ago. Edit: I was reminded of this article "The Relativity of Wrong" [1] by Isaac Asimov. TL;DR: An analogy is the flat earth. We went from thinking the earth was flat into thinking it was round, which isn't correct either since it's an oblate spheroid. But we can all…
on “Was there ever really a “sugar conspiracy”?” ↗…> naive assumption that we know the limits of knowledge I think very few people claim to know the limits of knowledge, but that is not the same thing as saying we know nothing. Asimov's essay on the Relativity of Wrong [0] is some of the best reasoning along this line of thought. [He] went on to lecture me severely on the fact that in every century people have thought they understood the universe at last, and in every…
on “The Risk of Discovery” ↗I commend to your attention Isaac Asimov's essay that I believe is called "The Relativity of Wrong". Even if nobody knows everything, not everyone is equally ignorant; even if no model of the world is perfect, some are a lot better than others, and we can tell which is which.
on “Philip K. Dick and the Fake Humans” ↗“New Theory of the Universe,” a headline in the London Times crowed. “Newtonian Ideas Overthrown.” For a introductory but fascinating treatment of why this is wrong you should read Asimov's The Relativity of Wrong (https://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.ht...) In fact, this should be required reading for science journalists, which, by the looks of the current writing, is not the case. Sad to…
on “Albert Einstein’s Sci-Fi Stories (2015)” ↗…to it because I think it's a valid and reasonable point. Also, as to whether believing scientific general consensus should count as "faith" or not, I invite you to read Issac Asimov's short essay "The Relativity of Wrong".
…challenge you to provide an alternative with a better track record? It generally takes in new information and self-corrects over time. As I mentioned to someone else in this threat, Issac Asimov's essay "The Relativity of Wrong" may be old but it's still very relevant today.
…electromagnetic force isn’t the only fundamental interaction and we don’t have a theory of everything. But QED explains one of the fundamental interactions far better than the paper tries to paint it. See The Relativity of Wrong by Isaac Asimov.
on “Something is wrong in the state of QED - history of physics” ↗I occasionally reread Isaac Asimov's The Relativity of Wrong. While Yudkowsky's The Simple Truth is more rigorous, I find the brevity of Asimov's essay more refreshing. Another perennial favorite of mine is George Orwell's Politics and the English Language. http://chem.tufts.edu/answersinscience/relativityofwrong.htm…
on “What Long Hours Really Mean” ↗Relevant essay by Asimov: The Relativity of Wrong http://chem.tufts.edu/answersinscience/relativityofwrong.htm
on “The 'impossible' EmDrive could reach Pluto in 18 months?” ↗You need to read Asimov's essay "The Relativity of Wrong" http://chem.tufts.edu/answersinscience/relativityofwrong.htm Ancient people and people 50 years ago were both wrong about a lot of things, as we no doubt are today, but there is a very different sort…
on “Mindfulness may have been over-hyped” ↗Most planets aren't even spherical in the same way that a piece of paper isn't even flat. A fun read about this: - [Asimov - The Relativity of Wrong](http://chem.tufts.edu/answersinscience/relativityofwrong.htm) From the link above: > To put it another way, on a flat surface, curvature is 0 per mile everywhere. On the earth's spherical surface,…
on “Jupiter has 10 more moons we didn't know about” ↗…about as true as 'Earth is a sphere'. Sure, they're both only approximately true, but how approximately they're true (or not) is very important. Asimov explained this extremely well: - [Asimov - The Relativity of Wrong](http://chem.tufts.edu/answersinscience/relativityofwrong.htm) 'Epigenetics' itself seems like it might not be a particular thing among different people: - [The misunderstanding of epigenetics – Insitome](https://blog.insito.me/the-misunderstanding-of-epigenetics-a...)…
on “Poverty leaves a mark on our genes” ↗…is wrong -- wrong as in somewhat innaccurate and likely perfectible, and in now way as wrong as only religious ideas can be, i.e. completely false and unfounded. Asimov wrote a great essay about this Relativity of Wrong [1]. Indeed, that fact that science isn't regressive, and our knowledge is getting more accurate with each passing day, is self-evident. Suffice to compare what we have now with what we had 20 years…
on “Scientific Regress” ↗Very relevant here is Isaac Asimov's The Relativity of Wrong: http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm HN discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1147968
on “Wrong scientific beliefs that were held for long periods” ↗…guess their credibility is now completely out the window and from a reply to this post: There's no such as independent back there to begin with. I find this to be incredibly annoying. Asimov's essay on relativity of wrong should be mandatory reading for people engaging in debates. People forget that even if people make mistakes the world is not black-and-white, not 0 or 1. There's a whole infinity inbetween. People often…
on “Wikileaks Takes Down the Head of Al Jazeera” ↗