Have you noticed this thing where of all words "orthogonal" has killed off "unrelated" ? Are there any other linear algebra terms that have leapt to people-talk?
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I hear a lot of terms of set theory creeping into the vernacular, as more people try their hands at data analysis. But then, that may just be due to my weird position between business and technology.
I hear "orthogonal" in two contexts that make sense to me.
The first is where someone wants to change X in order to affect Y, and you say "no, those are orthogonal", meaning that changing X will have no effect on Y.
“Orthogonal” is nice because it also connotes “perpendicular” which gives the image of one thing being in a totally independent direction, and if you go that way, you’ll make no progress toward your goal, which is often what you’re trying to convey in that first case.
So why not misuse "perpendicular" instead. This whole thing smacks of Cummings-style misapprppriation of poorly understood technical terms to refer to everyday things which already have a perfectly good set of words.
The second is where you have two (or more) parameters that can be varied independently to cover a design space, and the effects of each parameter can be understood independently of the others. If the effect of one parameter depends on the value of another, they're not orthogonal.
🤷🏼♂️ seems pretty accurate to me! Like, if you PCA the factors impacting the issue being discussed down to a 2D graph, a pair of orthogonal factors would be at right angles to each other.
I guess this doesn’t cover *all* of “unrelated”, tho…
We were playing an old edition of Agricola last night, I commented on the use of the word "orthogonally" without further explanation, as if it were just assumed all gamers understood the term.
Not specifically LA, but Transformation, perhaps.
Vector and Matrix have non-math meanings that are used sometimes.
Tangential is another good one (geometric, but occurs also in LA).
Gonna be a while before we hear Unimodular and Symplectic in a wider scope, I guess.
Or more generally, an aviation context. Getting vectored to your destination is when you receive vectors (headings to fly) by ATC. (As opposed to following established airways and routes.)
Lots of people in gaming (incorrectly) use "RNG" instead of "random(ness)".
Also "tech" is short for "technique" for them, instead of "technology" (which is fair enough).
It's pretty useful though, when two aspects of a system can vary independently without one affecting the other, and all possible combinations are valid.
I mean to me something is orthogonal to something else when it goes off in a completely different direction, but they may still some things in common, if only tangentially.
Other words or turns of phrase borrowed from geometry: "at right angles to", "incommensurable with" and so on.
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(Was thinking to much about how "extrapolieren" is the German version of "extrapolate", whereas "extra polieren" is "giving it extra polish"...)
The first is where someone wants to change X in order to affect Y, and you say "no, those are orthogonal", meaning that changing X will have no effect on Y.
I guess this doesn’t cover *all* of “unrelated”, tho…
I guess I heard someone use the work Fractal for something too?
Vector and Matrix have non-math meanings that are used sometimes.
Tangential is another good one (geometric, but occurs also in LA).
Gonna be a while before we hear Unimodular and Symplectic in a wider scope, I guess.
Also "tech" is short for "technique" for them, instead of "technology" (which is fair enough).
Other words or turns of phrase borrowed from geometry: "at right angles to", "incommensurable with" and so on.