[Taxacom] Multiple views, singular views, and hopelessness

[Paul van Rijckevorsel]

From: "Roderic Page" <r.page at bio.gla.ac.uk>
Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2013 1:39 PM

> [...]  I suspect (but have no data) that most simply won't 
care about multiple hypotheses (in the same way I want a 
weather service to tell me if it will rain, not give me three 
alternative models and their predictions).

***
Well, having had a need for weeks to know about rain
(after opening up the roof of the house), I am sure that 
often there is a need for more infomation than just if it will 
rain (like, if it is going to rain, will I be carrying buckets? 
If it is not going to rain, will there be an extended period 
of sunshine?) and that the needed information is not 
necessarily constant (but shifting continually, depending 
on the state of the roof). I kept track, at a quick count, 
of five sources of information (with, again, the usefulness 
of each source shifting continuously with circumstances).
* * *

> ... a map of the world  ... the tool that gives me the answer 
is global.

***
Still, there are lots of maps of the world, all different. It is 
possible to buy books filled with multiple maps of the world, 
offering multiple views.

Paul