On Jul 17, 2008, at 10:02 AM, Steve Smith wrote:
> <snip>
> Certainly there is a human tendency to blather on, to speculate, to
> pontificate (otherwise blogs and mail lists would never have
> emerged?)
> about that which we do not understand, but just because we understand
> something doesn't prevent us from considering it's larger implications
> and context.
> <snip>
Good points, Steve. My distinction between "argue" and "grasp" was
that amongst math folks you'll hear what sounds like arguing but is
instead striving to grasp a difficult point. It is *not* arguing
about if math "works" or "is right".
And, to be absurdly concrete, consider these threads (using Nabble):
21 Mathematics and Life - Gregory Chaitin Lectures
6 Re: Friam Digest, Vol 61, Issue 16
13 Mathematics and Music
15 Mentalism and Calculus
2 Re: Friam Digest, Vol 61, Issue 13
47 Mathematics and Music
1 MentalismAndCalculus
3 Mentalism and Calculus
8 Mentalism and Calculus
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116 Total messages
..I may have missed a few. That's a LOT of chatter. Hence Doug and I
becoming confused .. it was pretty hard to follow. That, added to our
not responding correctly to keep threads combined, made it basically
impossible.
I'd prefer a few "grasp" sessions rather than philosophic debates.
-- Owen
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