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Ideal Values and Practical Values (part 3). More on the value of Chess pieces.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
John Lawson wrote on Fri, Jul 18, 2003 01:53 AM UTC:
Mike Nelson wrote:
'I would not call the magic number arbitrary--it is empirical, it cannot
be deduced from the theory, but I think the concept has an excellent
logical basis.'

May I add, an empirically determined constant is no less scientific.  For
those who remember high school physics, it is rather like the
gravitational constant, which has been measured very precisely to make the
equations fit the evidence.  This is all OK, because results that depend
on it can be applied to accurately predict events in the real world.

Of course, it is even better if we find a way to calculate the 'magic
number'.