Eigenvectors

[DrD]

(12-27-2018 12:58 PM)parisse Wrote:  ... This also demonstrates that having too much confidence in Wolfram Alpha is not a good idea, it may look simpler, but it's not always appropriate (this is of course true for any CAS, but more true for those with an interface where everything is supposed to be done for you)

By extension, 'If a consumer of a product must somehow know not to place too much confidence in that product, just because it has an interface where everything is supposed to be done for you,' that says a lot about product suitability for purpose, doesn't it?

Perhaps you're right, and by that reasoning, it will never be possible to design a safe autonomous vehicle to be used on public roads. In general, 'suitability for purpose can never be obtained,' can it? On the other hand, it just seems like a good thing when airlines have the latest technology, maximizing confidence that flights will be safe.

More directly, when the prime CAS delivers results similar to those obtained by hand, (and by competing products), confidence in the product is $confirmed. As a perpetual student, when the results of eigenvects(a) are the same as eigenvects(exact(a)), where the two are the same, less frustration is spent trying to reconcile differences.