[clickok]

> A theory is nothing but a way to turn (a finite number of) measurements into predictions.

That's a very nice way of putting it. Is there a particular book, lecture, or other resource you could recommend for this interpretation of theorizing?

[ssivark]

That particular statement is something I made up once I finally understood what was going on; I’ve not seen any references which explain it quite that way. If there are any specific leading questions, I might try to unwrap that intuition here; otherwise it’s a little difficult and I’ll need to think harder to cook up a nice motivating example :-)

That said, Simon Dedeo has a relatively accessible set of online lectures which explain the concepts behind renormalization and broader connections to ideas in computing and other fields, without needing as much heavy machinery as a typical theoretical physics treatment. I haven’t watched it, but in general I appreciate his pedagogy, so here’s the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF0b3ThojznTzAA7bfLWh...

[cloogshicer]

I'd also love a recommendation here!