Talk:Handwaving

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Contents

[edit] Poem relevance

From the article:

This page is dedicated to Stevie Smith author of the poem Not waving but Drowning.

This isn't a very useful contribution. Please don't do this. -- The Anome 22:48 11 Jul 2003 (UTC)

It is a very useful addition. Please don't remove it.Harry Potter 23:57 11 Jul 2003 (UTC)
You'll have to explain the relevance of the poem, please, otherwise it looks totally out of context. Evercat 23:58 11 Jul 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Literal interpretation - what is the motion?

Question from a non-native english reader: What does handwaving mean in a literal sense? I mean, what movement of the hand/gesture is described by this term? I think this should be added to the article. Thank you. I've done it myself. [unsigned]

[edit] Not limited to math and physics

"used in math and physics"

actually, the term is used in pretty much every technical field, and in business. [unsigned]

[edit] Definition?

The first definition seems odd:

"both hands up, palms forward, swinging the hands in a vertical plane pivoting at the elbows and/or shoulders (depending on the magnitude of the handwave)"

I tried doing this, and got no gesture that I have ever seen, more like some sort of dance move or something. What I got was a sort of winshield-wiper motion. Either the definition is wrong, or is poorly expressed. The second definition, listed as a mere alternative, is basically the only one I've seen: "alternatively, holding the forearms in one position while rotating the hands at the wrist to make them flutter." Herostratus 14:47, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

I don't agree that handwaving should be contrasted with abstract nonsense. Handwaving connotes a lack of precision. An argument can be concrete without being imprecise. 128.101.152.18 16:40, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Etymology

Does this phrase come from Obi Wan Kenobi's famous "these aren't the droids you're looking for" or predate it?

Predates it. My high school math teacher talked about "handwaving" and "handwavy proofs" (no doubt quoting his own, earlier college teachers) back around 1972. -Potosino 02:18, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Relative frequency of "handwavium" and "unobtainium"

I found the following comment in the article. Since its point seems to be to argue about whether the article ought to mention "handwavium" at all, rather than to provide encyclopedic information to a non-editor reader, it belongs here on the talk page. Thus moved. –Henning Makholm 00:05, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

Note: handwavium is a rarely used term, with only 402 occurrences (excludes Wikipedia) found using Google (4/2007). By contrast, the terms unobtainium (and British variant 'unobtanium') have 159,500 unique occurrences. However, handwavium is mentioned in World Wide Words: Unobtanium.

[edit] Missing something

I'm almost dead certain that this article used to mention the Jedi handwave. I think it still should. Whether that concept was the genesis of this term, or George Lucas came up with the Jedi mind trick gesture as an homage to an existing term, I don't personally know (judging from the "1972" testimonial above, probably the latter), but it's pretty clear that the term's popular currency has a lot to do with Star Wars. I'm pretty sure that the Jargon File documents this pretty well (though I wouldn't bet my life savings on it; the JF changes a lot over time, just like WP). Anyway, the point was I think this was in there at some point, and now it's not, and that's a shame. — SMcCandlish [talk] [cont] ‹(-¿-)› 13:52, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Literary Criticism

Jedi mind trick? Role playing games? What does this have to do with literary criticism? Who wrote this section, the high school chess club? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.102.4.81 (talk) 20:19, 16 December 2007 (UTC)