In comparison to the set of real numbers is it a bigger or smaller infinite? — Moliere
It could be that knowledge is innumerable, which I suspect, but then how do we get to comparing people who have more or less? — Moliere
Does it even make sense to quantify knowledge? — Moliere
You see how strange it is that knowledge is innumerable and that there are people who know more? — Moliere
If you know what you're looking for, inquiry is unnecessary. If you don't know what you're looking for, inquiry is impossible
You see how strange it is that knowledge is innumerable and that there are people who know more? — Moliere
I come from a sociology background; this sounds rather... mundane? — Dawnstorm
Quantifying innumerable things is what sociologists have always done. But they don't usually do it for the sake of it; there's a research question that drives how to quantify things.
I've once been asked, on the street, to test new recipees for orange juice. They'd ask questions about how much I liked the taste, colour, etc., and they provided me with a ordinal scale from 1 to 10. Oh goody. The ordinal scale made sense. I mean, the minimal ordinal scale would be: (1) don't like, (2) like. It's an ordinal scale, because we value (2) more (I won't buy juice I don't like). What's not there is a stable distance between (1) and (2). It's just an order.
The minimal ordinal scale isn't very thorough, though, and judging can become kind of arbitrary for so-so cases, which might fall in either slot, depending on mood. So maybe something like this (1) yuk, (2) meh, (3) yum.
Or maybe (1) get this away from me, (2) if it's all there is, (3) maybe sometimes, if I'm in the mood, (4) yeah, that's good, (5) MUST HAVE!
Go higher than (5) and the accuracy of the scale falls apart, because it's really hard to even figure out what the bullet points mean. — Dawnstorm
So, yeah, knowledge is probably best described as an ordinal scale. It doesn't meet the requirements for an interval scale. And how you quantify it depends on what you want to know, and how you can fruitfully measure it. — Dawnstorm
So would the operation of counting be relative to some kind of expert who knows more? Such that the comparative judgment is also relative to a third person, a judge or expert? — Moliere
I'd say an A does not definitely represent more knowledge than an F -- for instance, if one grades on a standard curve such that there will always be a person who gets an F and always be a person who gets an A the grading system forces people into a grade rather than measures knowledge because the teacher believes it fairest. Grades are awarded on a basis of merit, which in turn requires a standard -- but the standard is never the same between classes, or even between teachers. — Moliere
In a workplace no one cares what grades someone got, they only care that the person is competent. — Moliere
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