R: Re: What are among the world's most important problems to solve, why?

['scerir' via Everything List]

  
  
    
I've been close friends with two mathematicians.  The both say,
      "I'm a Platonist Monday thru Friday.  On the weekend I'm a
      nominalist."
    Brent


"I raised just
this objection with the (extreme)ultrafinitist
Yessenin Volpin during a lecture of his. He

asked me to be
more specific. I then proceeded to start

with 2^1 and
asked him whether this is "real" or something to

that effect.
He virtually immediately said yes. Then I

asked about
2^2, and he again said yes, but with a

perceptible
delay. Then 2^3, and yes, but with more delay.

This continued
for a couple of more times, till it was

obvious how he
was handling this objection. Sure, he was

prepared to
always answer yes, but he was going to take 2^100

times as long
to answer yes to 2^100 then he would to

answering 2^1.
There is no way that I could get very far with

this."

-Harvey M.
Friedman



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