Ted MacNeil wrote | Pride? Maybe.
making it clear rhat he doesn't get it. There is a very small book, A mathematician's apology, by G. H. Hardy that I may well have mentioned here before. In it Hardy identifies three characteristics that all those who do good, sat all memorable intellectual work share. They are 1) more or less disinterested intellectual curiosity, the itch to know how things work, 2) a sense of craftsmanship, pride in one's work, evidenced by a need to do it as well as one can, and 3) ambition, a desire for recognition, "even money" in Hardy's words. Others in his view (and mine) will not and cannotr be expected to do exceptional work. About those others? Well, paraphrasing Hardy again: Since they cannot do anything really well it does not much matter what they do. John Gilmore, Ashland, MA 01721 - USA ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
