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I am reading SICP-Chapter II and encounter such a sentence

In this chapter we are going to look at more complex data. All the procedures in chapter 1 operate on simple numerical data, and simple data are not sufficient for many of the problems we wish to address using computation.
Programs are typically designed to model complex phenomena, and more often than not one must construct computational objects that have several parts in order to model real-world phenomena that have several aspects.
Thus, whereas our focus in chapter 1 was on building abstractions by combining procedures to form compound procedures, we turn in this chapter to another key aspect of any programming language: the means it provides for building abstractions by combining data objects to form compound data.

Reference to the sentence:

Programs are typically designed to model complex phenomena, and more often than not one must construct computational objects that have several parts in order to model real-world phenomena that have several aspects.

Decompose the sentence:

Programs are typically designed to model complex phenomena,
and more often than
not one must construct computational objects that have several parts
in order to model real-world phenomena that have several aspects

I am very confused with not one here.

J.R.
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Wizard
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    Note: "reluctant" means you don't want to, not that you are having difficulty – OrangeDog Oct 29 '19 at 17:59
  • Replace the word one with you. In colloquial/informal usage you would say and more often than not you must construct but in formal usage one would use the word one instead of you – slebetman Oct 30 '19 at 07:37

1 Answers1

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The phrase is more often than not. Here is one entry:

more often than not
usually:
• In winter it rains a lot, and more often than not, you're carrying an umbrella.

more often than not
most of the time:
• More often than not, a student will come up with the right answer.

(Cambridge Dictionary)

The dictionaries I consulted gave varying definitions. Basically, it can mean usually, often, a lot of the time, most of the time, etc. It is not concrete. For simplicity's sake, let's say it means often. One is used as a pronoun:

one pronoun (ANY PERSON)
any person, but not a particular person:
• One ought to make the effort to vote.
(Cambridge Dictionary)

one
16.  pronoun
You use one to make statements about people in general which also apply to themselves. One can be used as the subject or object of a sentence.
[formal]
If one looks at the longer run, a lot of positive things are happening.
Where does one go from there?
Shares and bonds can bring one quite a considerable additional income.
(Collins Dictionary)

Then

Programs are typically designed to model complex phenomena, and often one must construct computational objects that have several parts in order to model real-world phenomena that have several aspects.

In the original, it might help to use commas, but that is a matter of style:

... and, more often than not, one must...

Em.
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  • The last line alone would have been my answer. As for your example, "...,and often one must...", I would use "..., and, often, one must...". It is style, and with the pauses it creates more emphasis on the phrase. "More often than not" definitely means "most of the time", where as "often" and "a lot" have no demarcation in ratio, "more often than not" is at least one more than half the time. – wolfsshield Oct 29 '19 at 13:32
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    I think this could be improved by emphasizing how "one" can be used as a pronoun. – user3067860 Oct 29 '19 at 14:01
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    @user3067860 Thanks. I included a couple of dictionary entries. – Em. Oct 29 '19 at 17:55
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    Strictly speaking, “more often than not” literally means “this is true more often than it is not true,” and so is equivalent to a “majority,” 50%+1 of cases. – KRyan Oct 29 '19 at 17:59
  • This is why use the 'proverbial' you instead of one. But then people mistake that as themselves and take it personally. Using the pronoun one only works well when spoken; the author of that article omitted a comma, "not , one", which would've (been deductible when spoken) made this less confusing. – Mazura Oct 30 '19 at 01:50
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    @KRyan literal meanings of words go out the window when used in an idiomatic way. This is not to say somebody opens a window and throws out pieces of paper with those words written on them. – mcalex Oct 30 '19 at 05:48
  • @mcalex I don't know - I've had teachers in school who would throw pieces of paper with words unsatisfactory to her standards out the window - literally – slebetman Oct 30 '19 at 07:39
  • @mcalex Ok, then, I’ll amend my statement—in my experience, this is also how I believe the overwhelming majority of English speakers understand and use the phrase, if not consciously literal, then contextually from how the phrase gets used. I think most would be confused by “more often than not” used in a situation where the probability is distinctly less than 50%. And understanding the literal origins can help improve understanding the idiomatic usage. – KRyan Oct 30 '19 at 11:53