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Talk:Back-of-the-envelope calculation

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Why is the Laffer Curve characterized as "purporting to show the relationship between tax cuts and government income"? The connotation is that it doesn't show that relationship. Per dictionary.com, purport means "to present, especially deliberately, the appearance of being; profess or claim, often
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Well, it still strikes me as an unnecessary word - there's no need to cover every possibility in a sentence lik that; we wouldn't say "nearest available piece of paper, parchment or other material capable of holding ink or other writing substance" - but I'm sure we both agree it's not worth an edit
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Agreed... bote-calculations mean approximations, not everything you figure out on the back of a envelope or napkin. If that was teh case i could add Steven Weinberg figured out the beginning of his work in QFT on a napkin, and I can source that too. However, It's not a bote-calculation.
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There is considerable debate about the reality and accuracy of the Laffer Curve. Describing it as de facto correct would be misleading. I'll change the verb to "claim" as "purport" carries more of a negative connotation, judging from that description. -
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falsely". It feels like editorializing. I'm not an economics expert, but the Laffer Curve was taught to me in Macroeconomics at the University I attended (mainstream, private--not some sort of agenda driven fringe school).
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I can imagine topics, e.g. music theory and psychology, respectively, where these might be rational anchors, but here they simply seem to make a slightly distracting joke about how computers can waste our time.
309: 147: 44: 661:? To design something on the back of an envelope also seems like a common engineering term...and there are some nice real-world examples of designs done on table napkins. (eg 680:
That would be a separate article, if it's deserving. This BOTE is very much an engineering/science concept and term - "calculation" is the key more than the napkin. -
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Most paper napkins I've seen have symmetric faces. What's the back of a napkin? Perhaps whoever wrote that article was thinking of "back-of-the-envelope".
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None of the three examples actually seem like back of the envelope calculations. A sketch of a building or tool you want to invent is not a calculation.
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It's a valid term, that's often used (at least it is where I am). You can't dispute an article because you just don't like the phrase it's describing.
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This, of course, makes one doubt the usefulness or wit of the whole entry, whether or not the author is actually responsible for the coding.
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Why would an envelope so often be at hand? Shouldn't it be called something like napkin-face? Or did this term originate in offices?
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would be a better title (removing the hyphen between "envelope" and "calculation", and dropping the plural "s" in accordance with the
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I restored "available". The nearest piece of paper may not be available. It may be an important document, not to be scribbled on.--
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as it deals with the same subject. I favour turning this article into the redirect, as people usually use the longer phrase. --
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There's an article (stub) talking about back of the napkin calculations. I think these should be put into one article somehow.
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Why are "envelope" and "guess" underlined, and in fact coded, as anchors to Knowledge entries on these notions?
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Lincoln wrote his famous speech on the back of an envelople while on a train en route to give the address. M
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I agree with the above comment regarding "s" and hyphens, but otherwise it's catch-as-catch-can. -
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on Knowledge. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
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If it's really due to Enrico Fermi, then it presumably originated in a university environment.--
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What does this entry have to do with the Laffer Curve and why is it referenced from here?
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It's because of all the junk mail you get, you always have a useless envelope around.
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Although interesting,I don't see how it is relevant to the article.
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http://designmuseum.org/__entry/4733?style=design_image_popup
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I don't have a strong opinion either way, but maybe
270:, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of 33:for general discussion of the article's subject. 492:The reference link for Fermi Questions is 404. 174: 8: 216: 517:Does anybody really use the abbreviation 218: 188: 631:is a key part of the term, however. - 7: 392:Clearly, this should be merged with 264:This article is within the scope of 657:What about back-of-envelope/napkin 207:It is of interest to the following 23:for discussing improvements to the 14: 775:Mid-priority mathematics articles 394:Back-of-the-envelope-calculations 284:Knowledge:WikiProject Mathematics 408:Back-of-the-envelope calculation 287:Template:WikiProject Mathematics 251: 241: 220: 189: 45:Click here to start a new topic. 25:Back-of-the-envelope calculation 304:This article has been rated as 1: 719:15:45, 6 September 2015 (UTC) 690:15:36, 22 November 2010 (UTC) 675:14:18, 22 November 2010 (UTC) 531:19:28, 22 November 2007 (UTC) 477:war, so I won't re-revert. - 462:Nearest and nearest available 366:14:44, 18 December 2006 (UTC) 278:and see a list of open tasks. 42:Put new text under old text. 770:C-Class mathematics articles 587:04:17, 29 January 2009 (UTC) 382:20:53, 21 January 2010 (UTC) 447:I agree with Wmahan too. -- 50:New to Knowledge? 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