Accounts Quote by James Gleick
“The basic idea of Western science is that you don't have to take into account the falling of a leaf on some planet in another galaxy when you're trying to account for the motion of a billiard ball on a pool table on earth. Very small influences can be neglected. There's a convergence in the way things work, and arbitrarily small influences don't blow up to have arbitrarily large effects.”
About This Quote
Source Book: The Information, James Gleick, 2011
Science models ignore negligible effects to simplify analysis, assuming small factors won’t cause large outcomes.
In simple terms: Ignore tiny influences for practical predictions.
Key Takeaway
Use simplifications wisely.
Themes
science
modeling
reductionism
precision
Mood
thoughtful
educational
Type
philosophical
explanatory
When to use this quote
- physics experiments
- engineering design
- data analysis
- policy modeling
Key Concepts
scale
negligibility
determinism
Questions to Reflect On
- When can tiny factors become significant?
- How do you decide what to ignore?
A Different Perspective
Extreme simplifications may miss critical rare events.
