Jul 31, 2013 - Ian Hill in his letter compares Lady Churchill's statement on the need for extravagance rather than thrift to advance science, and which has ...
No knowledge in proverbs
Wise words? 31 July 2013 by Paul G. Ellis, London, UK New Scientist Magazine issue 2928. Subscribe and save Ian Hill in his letter compares Lady Churchill's statement on the need for extravagance rather than thrift to advance science, and which has acquired the character of a proverb, with an opposing proverb on necessity as the spur for invention (20 July, p 29). It's worth noting that most proverbs can be matched in this way, from which we can conclude that most proverbs encode no reliable knowledge at all.
