vault backup: 2026-03-03 12:26:29

heuristics.md

@@ -22,6 +22,25 @@ With that heuristic,
 one can closely approximate small dimensions,
 even without the proper tools.
 
-## See Also
+## Realism vs. Instrumentalism
 
-[[realism-vs-instrumentalism]]
+Realism holds that the purpose of [scientific research](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research)
+is to describe the world as accurately as possible.
+Instrumentalism (anti-realism) argues that the purpose
+is to _forecast as accurately as possible_.
+
+> [!quote] George E. P. Box, British statistician
+> All models are wrong, but some are useful.[^1]
+
+[^1]: > [!quote] [[box_1987_empirical-model-building#The Use of Approximating Functions]] 
+    > The fact that the polynomial is an approximation
+    > does not necessarily detract from its usefulness
+    > because all models are approximations.
+    > Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful.
+
+> [!quote] _Opinionated History of Mathematics_, "Did Copernicus steal ideas from Islamic astronomers?" (pp.)
+> Ptolemy's lunar model is "flawed"
+> in that it inaccurately describes Luna's distance from Earth,
+> however Ptolemy only ever used the model to predict eclipses,
+> which the model does very well.
+> The discrepancy is only a flaw from a realist perspective.