Don’t Confuse Rigor with Correctness

You cannot formalize nature, you can only formalize your intuitions about it.

But this cannot, by definition, make your case stronger, for your imprecise intuitions are the closest to nature you will ever get.

Bringing definite form and shape to what you feel trades truth for convenience, reality for instrument.

Yes, there is a benefit to formalization. It encourages consistency, clarity and efficiency.

But it is not nature that formalization brings you closer to, rather it is accommodating methods and serviceable fragments. The approach is one of utility, not credibility.

Don’t confuse rigor with correctness.