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    The criterion of practical significance cannot be the sol... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Parallel algorithms that require exponentially many processors relative to input size are of little practical significance

    The criterion of practical significance cannot be the sole arbiter of theoretical value in complexity theory without collapsing the descriptive project into engineering.

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    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Complexity theory's core mission is explaining computational phenomena, which requires standards beyond engineering utility.
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    • 2.Purely practical criteria would exclude theoretically elegant results (e.g., P vs NP implications) irrelevant to current applications.
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    • 3.Engineering and theory serve distinct epistemic functions; conflating them undermines both disciplines' integrity.
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    Reasons Against

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    • 1.Practical significance provides the only objective, intersubjective benchmark; theoretical value is inherently subjective without it.
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    • 2.Complexity theory emerged from practical computing problems; divorcing it from application concerns risks sterile abstraction.
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    • 3.Resource constraints in research funding mean impractical theory cannot be sustained; significance must justify investment.
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    Related

    Complexity theory emerged from practical computing problems; divorcing it from a...Complexity theory's core mission is explaining computational phenomena, which re...Engineering and theory serve distinct epistemic functions; conflating them under...Parallel algorithms that require exponentially many processors relative to input...
    +3 moreShow less
    Practical significance provides the only objective, intersubjective benchmark; t...Purely practical criteria would exclude theoretically elegant results (e.g., P v...Resource constraints in research funding mean impractical theory cannot be susta...

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    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
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