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An old debate: Quantity vs Quality

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iamnotaparakeet
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27 Dec 2010, 6:45 pm

Would you like this done right the first time or done in a "timely manner"?

Which is more important and in what respects for what products or goals, if you had to choose between the two: a high quantity of things done in a shoddy manner or a lower quantity of things done in a careful manner? As it relates to college, is it better to load up on classes and be overwhelmed with so many graded assignments as to reduce the time for studying to nil, or is it better to be able to study the material prior to having your knowledge and understanding of the subject tested. In relation to businesses, is it more important to have your sandwiches done in a hurry all of them incorrect in some manner or another or is it more important to get what you asked for the first time around? As it relates to medicine, is it more important for a surgery to be performed correctly the first time, or is it better to rush through so as to be able to treat more patients per time?



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27 Dec 2010, 6:47 pm

Quantity has a quality all of its own.


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Sand
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27 Dec 2010, 6:49 pm

iamnotaparakeet wrote:
Would you like this done right the first time or done in a "timely manner"?

Which is more important and in what respects for what products or goals, if you had to choose between the two: a high quantity of things done in a shoddy manner or a lower quantity of things done in a careful manner? As it relates to college, is it better to load up on classes and be overwhelmed with so many graded assignments as to reduce the time for studying to nil, or is it better to be able to study the material prior to having your knowledge and understanding of the subject tested. In relation to businesses, is it more important to have your sandwiches done in a hurry all of them incorrect in some manner or another or is it more important to get what you asked for the first time around? As it relates to medicine, is it more important for a surgery to be performed correctly the first time, or is it better to rush through so as to be able to treat more patients per time?


You cannot generalize. Different situations require different standards. Ideally everything should be perfect in quality and efficiency. Economics and other factors do not always permit or require this.



Janissy
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27 Dec 2010, 7:16 pm

Sand wrote:
iamnotaparakeet wrote:
Would you like this done right the first time or done in a "timely manner"?

Which is more important and in what respects for what products or goals, if you had to choose between the two: a high quantity of things done in a shoddy manner or a lower quantity of things done in a careful manner? As it relates to college, is it better to load up on classes and be overwhelmed with so many graded assignments as to reduce the time for studying to nil, or is it better to be able to study the material prior to having your knowledge and understanding of the subject tested. In relation to businesses, is it more important to have your sandwiches done in a hurry all of them incorrect in some manner or another or is it more important to get what you asked for the first time around? As it relates to medicine, is it more important for a surgery to be performed correctly the first time, or is it better to rush through so as to be able to treat more patients per time?


You cannot generalize. Different situations require different standards. Ideally everything should be perfect in quality and efficiency. Economics and other factors do not always permit or require this.


Exactly. Different things are important in different situations. Where precision is necessary for survival- such as surgery or the brakes on my car- I want it done right even though that takes longer and is therefore more expensive. When it comes to my sandwich, I'd rather have it done right now even if that sacrifices having it done right. This has of course happened. The sandwich maker screws up my order and offers to make me a new sandwich. But I'd rather eat a sandwich that's not 100% as I ordered than wait around for another one.



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27 Dec 2010, 7:43 pm

In so much it is not A or B, it is a narrow corridor between the extremes.

Balance is all.



Sand
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27 Dec 2010, 7:45 pm

Philologos wrote:
In so much it is not A or B, it is a narrow corridor between the extremes.

Balance is all.


Balance has its problems as well.



iamnotaparakeet
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27 Dec 2010, 8:23 pm

Sand wrote:
Philologos wrote:
In so much it is not A or B, it is a narrow corridor between the extremes.

Balance is all.


Balance has its problems as well.


Extreme of quantity: producing a lot of crap rapidly. Extreme of quality: producing well done work slowly.
Balance between quantity and quality: producing a moderate amount of moderate crap at a moderate rate.



Laz
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27 Dec 2010, 8:39 pm

T-34 vs Pkz V Panther

basically



Idiotchief
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27 Dec 2010, 8:43 pm

I agree it's an over simplification of a question that can't really be answered in a nonspeific situation.


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27 Dec 2010, 8:47 pm

Quantity has a quality all its own --- V.I.Lenin.

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27 Dec 2010, 8:55 pm

General questions generally don't have answers.


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Sand
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27 Dec 2010, 9:31 pm

iamnotaparakeet wrote:
Sand wrote:
Philologos wrote:
In so much it is not A or B, it is a narrow corridor between the extremes.

Balance is all.


Balance has its problems as well.


Extreme of quantity: producing a lot of crap rapidly. Extreme of quality: producing well done work slowly.
Balance between quantity and quality: producing a moderate amount of moderate crap at a moderate rate.


In a commercial society anything produced that does not compete successfully in the market place will cease being produced. If crap exists it is because people buy it and find it useful in some way. Because something is excellently crafted does not mean it is necessarily useful commercially.



ruveyn
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27 Dec 2010, 9:41 pm

Sturgeon's Law --- 85 percent of everything is crap.

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Sand
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27 Dec 2010, 10:06 pm

ruveyn wrote:
Sturgeon's Law --- 85 percent of everything is crap.

ruveyn


Especially after it has been consumed.



iamnotaparakeet
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27 Dec 2010, 10:44 pm

Master_Pedant wrote:
General questions generally don't have answers.


In the vacuum and microgravity of space, an astronaut of 75kg mass throws a wrench of 1 kg mass at a velocity of 20 m/sec. If the astronaut's throw were done in a manner not to cause rotation but dividing the momentum purely into translational motion, what would be the astronaut's velocity with respect to the initial starting point from which the wrench was launched?



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27 Dec 2010, 11:23 pm

Depends. I generally have a hard time figuring out what I want.

If we were talking cars for example quality could be a Bugatti Veyron and quantity could be a Chevrolet Corvette. For the price of one Veyron I could give everyone in my family a Corvette...or just have more interior space in my sports cars than I have in my house. In that case I'd take quantity because quality isn't THAAAAT much of an improvement for me. If it was the Veyron or a Kia Rio or something forget quantity because why would I want to drive a bunch of CRAP cars when I could be driving a great one?

Same thing with computers, right now given the choice of a top of the line all the best s**t computer and a couple of computers with GTX 460s and 3ghz quad core processors I'd definitely go with the GTX 460s. However if I had to demote myself to integrated graphics or similar fat chance I'll take the expensive computer.


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