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golergka

> 14. (Edison's Law) "Better" is the enemy of "good".

That's a traditional russian saying, never seen it attributed to Edison before.

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Hmm traditional French saying as well: "Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien"

I too call shenanigans on the Edison bit ;)

Assuming Edison is Thomas Edison, the Wikipedia page about him has nothing to say about any law of his. I suppose they meant another Edison, though that is sort of cheating ("Obama's law: such and such" -- oh, I meant Jamie Obama)

Why that would be considered cheating?

I often google names from personalities that I know and get a footballer or a singer in the first results.

Well when using a very well-known name (such as Edison, Newton or Obama) it is expected that it's about Thomas Edison, Isaac Newton or Barack Obama, not some random dude who happens to have the same last name. If you want to quote Jason Edison, say it's Jason Edison's law to prevent misattribution instead of piggy-backing on the well-known name.

The expectation is bounded to the audience and the context of the text. Maybe Jason Edison would be more obvious than Thomas in a given setting.

Maybe there's an Edison that spacecraft folks know and we don't.

The Taylor series and Coolidge effect want to have a word with you.

As is common with household names, a fair percentage of the lore associated with it is nonsense.

Voltaire is also attributed to saying that (in French of course). General Patton said it differently, and I quite like his take since he adds the aspect of time to it: "A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan next week."

http://www.edbatista.com/2009/04/voltaire-patton-perfection....

Wikipedia says it's Voltaire quoting an ancient Italian saying.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_is_the_enemy_of_good

Old sayings don't really have frontiers, so it might as well be an old Russian saying.

I actually wrote a paper entitled this. My favorite alternate version is William Hazlitt (1778–1830):

"He who is determined not to be satisfied with anything short of perfection will never do anything to please himself or others."

Old sayings don't really have frontiers, so it might as well be an old Russian saying.

I thought the classic Russian problem is having too many frontiers.

This saying coincides with the ever-popular "done is better than perfect." My dad (a microwave engineer) taught me a variation: "Perfect is the enemy of good enough."

The concept is very important to learn, especially for those with a strong sense of idealism.

"You know what else is the enemy of good? Terrible!"

http://wondermark.com/975/

I think the attribution to edison is tongue-in-cheek reference to the War of Currents. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Currents

It was probably once Tesla's Law

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