Software Engineering
Experimentation
What is Knowledge ?
Jeff Offutt
http://www.cs.gmu.edu/~offutt/
Knowledge is not Wisdom
Where is the wisdom we lost in knowledge ?
Where is the knowledge we lost in information ?
– T. S. Eliot
We can be knowledgeable with other men’s
knowledge but we cannot be wise with other
men’s wisdom
– Montaigne
To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to
acquire wisdom, one must observe
– Marilyn Vos Savant
© Jeff Offutt, 2008-2012
2
Knowledge is Valuable
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is
the only guardian of true liberty
– James Madison, 4th US President
They know enough who know how to learn
– Henry Adams, American historian and scholar
The person who knows how will always have a job
The person who knows why will be that person’s boss
– Dr. Linwood Rose, President James Madison University
© Jeff Offutt, 2008-2012
3
How do We Get Knowledge?
• Where do we get knowledge ?
• How do we separate knowledge from facts ?
• How do we separate facts from claims ?
© Jeff Offutt, 2008-2012
4
Thoughts from Robert A.
Heinlein : Expanded Universe
• Truth = Pravda
– Pravda was the Soviet’s newspaper
– It is also the Russian word for truth
• Marxist / Leninism
– Truth is whatever is best for the state
• Democracy
– Truth is whatever we can get away with, given the checks of the
opposition party, free press, and educated citizens - all who want
to prove that we are big fat liars
© Jeff Offutt, 2008-2012
5
Truth = Pravda
• Real Life Truth Collision
– The little girl who sang “Ode to the Motherland” in the 2008
Olympics opening ceremony lip-synched
– “The reason was for the national interest,” said Chen Qigang, the
ceremony's musical director
– “The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feeling and
expression. ... Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects.”
– That is, they had one cute girl and one girl who could sing
• This is pure capitalist-style marketing !
© Jeff Offutt, 2008-2012
6
Truth = Pravda
• Thailand
– Truth is what we want to hear (politeness preempts facts)
• Japan
– Truth is what yields the least conflict
• Truthiness
– What should be true (Stephen Corbert)
Science: All the facts with no distortion
© Jeff Offutt, 2008-2012
7
What About YOU ?
• What is your background ?
• What is your preconditioning ?
• Can you overcome your bad habits to become scientists?
© Jeff Offutt, 2008-2012
8
The Point of This Class
This is not “Chinese vs American” culture
This is truth versus fiction, seeing the world as it
really is
This class will help you to see all the facts with
no distortion
This actually has very little to do with software
engineering
© Jeff Offutt, 2008-2012
9
History of This Class
• I’ve been teaching this class for almost 20 years
–
–
–
–
I’ve seen a lot of changes in software engineering and computing
We take experimentation much more seriously
Our experiments are much better
And published more widely
• But the essentials have not changed
– What’s changed is more people understand and use them
• I published my first experimental paper in 1988
– I wouldn’t accept it now—expectations are higher
– In fact, I would not accept the experimental part of my
dissertation from one of you
• I know more
You know more !
© Jeff Offutt, 2008-2012
10