Rules of thumb are how the ancient Greeks built cathedrals that still stand today. They were developed not through theory, but instead through passing down the techniques used that [[Empirical]] observations proved to work. They tried things. The things that worked, they kept on using them. They may not even know _why_ they worked, but that didn't really matter. **Rules of Thumb are what gets used when the situation is not fully understood.** They may not be perfect (in fact, they almost certainly aren't), but they are "good enough" for [[Satisficing]] the situation. If they stop working, they stop being passed down and used. [[The Things We Make]] includes rules of thumb in its definition of "[[The Engineering Method]]". # Etymology Note Despite what's said in the totally scientifically accurate movie "The Boondock Saints", the term _rule of thumb_ did **not** originate from a rule regarding legal spousal abuse. Instead it came from using your thumb as an approximation of the measurement of 1 inch. **** # More ## Source - [[The Things We Make]] ## Related - [[The Engineering Method]] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thumb