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Full Idea
Try to verify any law of nature, and you will find that the more precise your observations, the more certain they will be to show irregular departures from the law.
Gist of Idea
The more precise the observations, the less reliable appear to be the laws of nature
Source
Charles Sanders Peirce (The Doctrine of Necessity Examined [1892], p.331)
Book Ref
Peirce,Charles Sanders: 'Philosophical Writings of Peirce', ed/tr. Buchler,Justus [Dover 1940], p.331
A Reaction
This nicely encapsulates modern doubts about whether the so-called 'laws' of nature actually capture what is going on in the real world.
14803 | The more precise the observations, the less reliable appear to be the laws of nature [Peirce] |
14804 | Is chance just unknown laws? But the laws operate the same, whatever chance occurs [Peirce] |
14805 | Is there any such thing as death among the lower organisms? [Peirce] |
14806 | If the world is just mechanical, its whole specification has no more explanation than mere chance [Peirce] |