Newton vs Einstein

newton and einstein assumptions, exactitudes, perfection and creativity

(when) do we need perfection?

I am Mike Ellis I have spent about ten years “doing” the web I am a generalist, fiddler and dabbler

I usually do presentations that try to suggest answers.. ..this one is questions, all the way down

newton, 1666 (86) stuff continues // f=ma // action and reaction

design of stuff around exact, elegant laws

a simple description of the physical laws of the universe

einstein, 1905 E=mc 2

in some circumstances, Newton is only “approximately correct”

and “approximately” makes people tense

so is life complicated after all?

hopefully not

after all.. cars drive...planes fly...scooters scoot...clocks run...banks fail...servers start...electricity flows...things fall to the ground...trains run (sometimes)...we get up in the morning...

however much you look at something which is measured, "exact", you'll find assumptions: project plans, visitor numbers, motivations, ad-rates, budgets, economic ups and downs, user testing, focus groups, polls...

"...we didn't need Einstein to put Armstrong on the moon"

"the perfect truth is perhaps not to be had, and certainly isn't necessary for startling and brilliant success"

i.e - is an (easy) approximation adequate, or actively better than a (difficult) exactitude?

Voltaire (or Flaubert?): “perfection is the enemy of the good” time quality perfection

can big teams be creative? can corporate bodies “innovate” ? can a government ever really “do” web 2.0?

these are uncertainty

“ enterprise” vs “lightweight”, up-time, SLA’s, processors, top-down-ness vs bottom-upness RDF and the semantic web...?

obviously, this isn’t an either/or argument but how much “thinking” vs “doing”?

making things happen requires assumptions. Assumptions are inaccuracies. Inaccuracies are creative. Creativity is innovation.

uncertainty is good if it encourages creativity

I am at twitter.com/dmje, if you like that kind of thing thanks for listening. Seesaw http://www.flickr.com/photos/zaxl4/16950197 Wrong way http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsevilla/97727 582 Question http://www.flickr.com/photos/dra chmann/327122302 Duck http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmje/ 2883634706 Newton’s Laws http://www.flickr.com /photos/sunnyuk/2357899880 Simple http://www.flickr.c om/photos/louganmanzke/2722701187 Hair http ://www.flickr.com/photos/ocularsmith/239674652 Chaos http:// www.flickr.com/photos/penny2036/2498097929 Fog Alone in London http://www.gapingvoid.com/0711alone.jpg Sky Moon http://www.flickr.com/photos/balakov/24820 50441 Babel http://www.flickr.com/photos/pulpolux/3841992 43 Escape http://www.flickr.com/photos/practical owl/329076696 Truth http://www.flickr.com/photos/kxlly/34 9894433 Web..? Corporate http://www.flickr.com /photos/dhinson/1439657540 Peace and randomness http://www.flickr.com /photos/stephaneginer/2110759472

http://electronicmuseum.org.uk	14
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Newton vs Einstein

by Mike Ellis on Sep 26, 2008

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Newton vs Einstein — Presentation Transcript