Comments on: Vacation, and McCloskey on Mathematics

By: sigfpe

sigfpe — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 01:30:33 +0000

Having spent a couple of days reading up on category theory I’ve decided the guy is partly right. There is at least one branch of mathematics that is nothing but fancy plumbing.

By: octracker

octracker — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 06:11:46 +0000

Professor C. P. Snow, please call your office.

For some folks, words on a page stop being “culture” the minute someone types out an “=” sign.

By: David MacIver

David MacIver — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 22:24:54 +0000

By a curious coincidence, I don’t think they knew much maths either.

By: PeterMcB

PeterMcB — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 08:13:08 +0000

Traditional Australian Aboriginal society had no plumbing, yet developed one of the most sophisticated mythologies of any culture on earth, far more intricate than the theologies of ancient Greece or Rome. The visual art, music and language games of Aboriginal societies are also very sophisticated. I don’t think plumbing is a necessary condition for cultural achievement.

By: David MacIver

David MacIver — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 08:06:28 +0000

I think plumbing is one of our greatest cultural achievements.

Without hot showers we are nothing but savages.

By: sigfpe

sigfpe — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 05:02:30 +0000

Of course mathematics is a cultural achievement. It fits the definition in the most basic way: it’s transmitted from generation to generation like art, music, legal systems and so on. It also fits in other ways such as the notion of high-brow culture.

By: michael

michael — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 03:55:16 +0000

heh heh…he said “ministrations”…heh heh

By: cragwolf

cragwolf — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 03:33:46 +0000

What does your “brilliant and learned” friend consider to be deep? How does he define that word? And will his answers agree with that of another “brilliant and learned” person, otherwise picked at random?

By: KorayC

KorayC — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 02:31:54 +0000

I actually agree with the historian. Firstly, mathematics is not a cultural achievement (western? do you think the chinese don’t believe in maths or something?), and even if it was, I don’t think it would compare to human rights, democracy, etc.

By: sigfpe

sigfpe — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 21:44:02 +0000

What would historian know? Unlike just about every other field of endeavour I can think of, from English literature to particle physics, from theology to flower arranging, from economics to origami, history is the one field where there are no deep concepts.

OK, so I’m trolling a bit, but I think there’s some truth to it.