To find out what happens to a system when you interfere with it you have to interfere with it (not just passively observe it).
George E. P. BoxRead
Remember that all models are wrong; the practical question is how wrong do they have to be to not be useful.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Models are inherently flawed, and their usefulness depends on the degree of their inaccuracy.
This quote by George E. P. Box highlights the inherent limitations of any model or theory used in scientific practice. It emphasizes that while no model can perfectly represent reality, the critical question to consider is how much inaccuracy can be tolerated before the model loses its practical applicability. This reflects a realistic approach to scientific inquiry, where the focus should be on the usefulness of a model rather than its perfection.
Themes
ModelsScienceAccuracyUsefulnessTheory
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on scientific modeling, one might say, 'Remember that all models are wrong; the practical question is how wrong do they have to be to not be useful.'
More from George E. P. Box
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Any work of science, no matter what its point of departure, cannot become fully convincing until it crosses the boundary between the theoretical and the experimental: Experimentation must give way to argument, and argument must have recourse to experimentation.
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When I find myself in the company of scientists, I feel like a shabby curate who has strayed by mistake into a room full of dukes.
W. H. AudenRead
I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist in his laboratory is not only a technician: he is also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress him like a fairy tale. We should not allow it to be believed that all scientific progress can be reduced to mechanisms, machines, gearings, even though such machinery has its own beauty.
Marie CurieRead
If your result needs a statistician then you should design a better experiment.
Ernest RutherfordRead