As a follow up to the below post, I got a question asking me to provide an example on what it means to have a...

As a follow up to the below post, I got a question asking me to provide an example on what it means to have a balancing act between theory and practice.

https://plus.google.com/111375717217714398633/posts/2PEQ3qFDyzd

Let us look at an example to address this question.

Recently, I was working on a math problem with my daughter. The problem goes like this:

There are 10 birds on a tree. A hunter takes aim at the birds, and shoots one. How many birds are left now?

Right before doing this math problem (coincidence), while having a discussion with my daughter about birds that come regularly to feed on our bird feeder units hanging in the patio of our house, we noticed that all birds flew away as soon as the birds heard any noise or disturbance (see a gif of the real situation shared below).

Taking this real world observation, my daughter answered zero vocally to the above math question, while also answering 9 based on simple math in her book. If she were to write 0 in a real test, most probably, the answer would be marked wrong.

Though a simple example, it clearly outlines the importance of understanding the problem, and asking right questions while solving problems.

This example also shows that reality of the situation need not be completely defined by mathematics in all situations.

This is the art aspect of data science as well, that we have been emphasizing for a long time.