[thelist] Re: idealism

Techwatcher techwatcher at accesswriters.com
Thu Jun 13 08:16:09 CDT 2002


> casting idealism in a bad light? For me, I'm trying to run away from
> mediocrity...
> > In my opinion idealism makes people loose track of the whole
picture and
> > waste resources which could have been spent better somewhere else.
If
> > you
> > want an ideal solution you are going to chase after it for the rest
of
> > your
> > life. Idealism can make one fanatic und less objective. There is
always
> > something you can make better, it's just the question if it's worth
> > doing
> > it.

Actually, for those of us who are waaaay overeducated, the question of
when to optimise and when to "satisfice" comes down to mathematics. The
above are terms from Game Theory, which apply to certain *classes  of
problems*. Many other *classes of problems* do have optimal solutions
which it makes sense to seek. So, sometimes, do the best possible job.
Other times, good enough IS good enough (improvements will require
extraordinary effort in return for diminishingly small improvements).
It can be useful to learn how to tell the difference (way beyond the
scope of this list, though). (-8

Cheers
Carol Stein
techwatcher at accesswriters.com



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