My favorite expression about facts and estimates--given to me by Dr. David Hulett who was the PMI chair for PMP Chapter 11--is this one:
Now, I see this one posted at Critical Uncertainties, attributed to Friedrich Nietzcshe:There are no facts about the future
There are no facts, only interpretations
And, so what do we make of this ... particularly in our current era of "alternative facts"?
Begin here: set aside the idea of "alternative facts"; then consider:
It's all about bias -- we all have a biases, and thus can we ever say anything with true objectivity?
Well, yes, of course, there are immutable international standards for measurements; and measurements certainly make up a lot of "facts", though even here we find arguments about angels on the head of a pin (See Einstein, and the theories of relativity that demonstrate the flexibility of time and space)
And, of course, just put a measuring probe on some things changes them so much that we can't objectively measure them.
And then there is quantum physics with those theories of non-deterministic location; and entanglements that seem provide connectivity where there is none.
Should I go on?
Probably Nietzcshe had it right.
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