13 October 2007

What's the difference between theory and practice?

In theory they're the same.
In practice they're not.


(Overheard at work. Thanks Stephen!)

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9 comments:

Michael Hargreaves said...

Attributed to Albert Einstein: "In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, theory and practice are different."

Unknown said...

Thanks Michael. I give Einstein credit for the thought, but I think Stephen said it better!

Menelaos Gkikas said...

There's a professor that told us "there is no good theory if it is not practical"! I will add to this statement the fundamental of how you can choose a book and absorb it. Nevertheless, sometimes art exhibits fundamental characteristics that exceed science. It is a matter of choice between the pure acedemic and the project artwork. Under this spot, i think the answer is obvious. On the other hand, moving beyond science, to understand and explore the world and to find out nature's fairytale, i think it's awesome. Science related with senatorials has always been diplomatic!

Kenneth W. Davis said...

Another take, written, I believe by Kurt Lewin: "There is nothing as practical as a good theory."

Menelaos Gkikas said...

Don't kill such practices!!!

Unknown said...

Also,

Practice improves with practice.

:)

Anonymous said...

Theory is when everyone knows what they are doing and nothing works, Practice is when everything works and nobody knows why.

Unknown said...

That's a great one!

Anonymous said...

attributed to einstein too:
Theory is when you know all and nothing works.
Practice is when all works and nobody knows why.
In this case we have put together theory and practice: nothing works... and nobody knows why!