Re: Am I on the Right Track?

["Richard White" <RichWhite@orchardavenue.com>]

Variation and variety mean whatever you define them to mean (ref.
Operational Definitions). They are therefore either the same or different
depending on your operational definitions of them.

Ned's first post on this thread gave two different definitions by example
(to which many posters here might reasonably assign the words "variation"
and "variety"), and he was pointing out the apparent paradox that one is so
often labeled "good" and the other so often labeled "bad." The resolution of
the paradox lies in the fact that the two ideas expressed in the post are
different both in meaning and in context.

That said, Jonathan's recent post leads us to some interesting comparisons
of the benefits and challenges of variation: whereas unpredictable variation
in the genetics of a population makes that population as a whole more
adaptable (and is therefore beneficial toward the goal of that population's
continued survival), unpredictable variation in a production run of printed
circuit boards is not at all beneficial toward the goal of producing
consistent quality circuit boards at low cost. Unpredictable variation in
thought patterns, properly marshaled, is innovation; but unpredictable
variation in thought patterns that prevents the thinker from dealing with
reality is insanity. And so on.