Mind · Reasoning
MetaPrecision
How comparable all attempts are under one shared yardstick, which is what makes them rankable
Definition
Mechanism
Precision relates attempts to one another rather than to the target. Meta-precision is the same idea one level up: how far the conditions and measurement of every attempt have been standardised so that all attempts can be placed on one scale and ranked. An archery contest achieves high meta-precision by giving every archer the same distance, the same target and the same units. Mixing metric and imperial targets, or allowing each attempt its own target, lowers meta-precision because attempts become incommensurable. High meta-precision is what makes benchmarking, fair tests and optimisation by ranking possible.
Invariants
- Meta-precision concerns comparability between attempts, not closeness to a target
- It rises with standardisation of conditions, targets and units
- Attempts measured against different targets or in different codes are incommensurable
Risks
Failure modes
Mistaking high meta-precision (everything rankable) for success at the real goal
Forcing a single yardstick onto a problem that is better solved by many incommensurable means
Relationships
Root pattern: builds on nothing in this library.
Used by
References
A problem in which meta-accuracy trades off against meta-precision, so that solving it requires changing shape
Reference