Antoon Pardon wrote: > On 2007-04-20, Steve Holden <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Antoon Pardon wrote: >>> On 2007-04-19, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>>> On Apr 19, 6:54 am, Antoon Pardon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>>>> I don't know how you come to the conclusion that it is a mathematical >>>>> absurdity but consider this: If you find that common usage propagates >>>>> something that is incorrect, should we just shrug it off or should we >>>>> attemp a correction? >>>> a) In English, "learning curve" is not restricted to a mathematical >>>> plot--Webster's also defines it as "the course of progress made in >>>> learning something". In that context, adding the adjective steep >>>> ("extremely or excessively high...STEEP implies such sharpness of >>>> pitch that ascent or descent is very difficult") makes sense. >>> How much sense does it really make? Suppose we would talk about >>> an income curve. Would you not prefer a steep curve over a shalow >>> one? What about a productivity curve? It is all about the progress >>> made in something. >>> >>> So how much sense does it make that a steep curve in earnings and >>> productivity is good but a steep curve in learning is bad? >>> >> Just as much sense as that a motor car is great for driving around in >> but bad for being run over by. Context is everything. Do *all* steep >> curves have to be good or all bad? What the hell happened to common sense? > > You are just grabbing for straws. Sure context is everything. But you > don't make a case that the context makes a difference here. Are you > suggesting progres in productivity is good but progres in learning is bad? > No, I'm suggesting that in the company of thousands of people, most of whom agree that a "steep learning curve" means, in the face of all logic, that something is difficult to learn, you stop banging your head against the wall and trying to "prove" them "wrong" (presumably because it's important to you to be "right").
As has been said already at least twice in this thread, language is about communication. Human beings aren't always entirely rational no matter how much we may individually strive for correctness, and sometimes our only options are to either go with the flow or stand valiantly, pissing into the wind. > Just asserting how something can make a difference withouth arguing > how in the particular case it actucally makes a difference is just > a divertion tactic without real merrit. > In the face of a notion that all steep curves determining "progress made in something" must be good I stand with my mouth agape. I am aware that common usage does not concur with academic rigor, but in this particular instance I'm with the common herd. regards Steve -- Steve Holden +44 150 684 7255 +1 800 494 3119 Holden Web LLC/Ltd http://www.holdenweb.com Skype: holdenweb http://del.icio.us/steve.holden Recent Ramblings http://holdenweb.blogspot.com -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list