Equation 4 · Part 1 · Standardising the Record: How Writing Became Evidence
Symbol F_n
What this part means
fidelity after n generations of independent copying.
Its job in the formula
is part of the quantity the equation computes from the expression on the right.
Full expression→Symbol F_n→Article meaning
Where the article explains it
If is the probability that generation i of a copy reproduces a given passage faithfully, then fidelity after n generations of independent copying is
The passage around this formula
It is tempting to model manuscript transmission as pure decay. If is the probability that generation i of a copy reproduces a given passage faithfully, then fidelity after n generations of independent copying is . which for any constant per-generation fidelity below one falls exponentially in n . The model is illustrative and its value lies in the assumption it exposes rather than in any number it produces. It assumes errors accumulate independently and are never removed. The correction apparatus is exactly the violation of that assumption: a corrector comparing a copy against another exemplar can subtract error as well as add it, which is why long manuscript…
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