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foobar_ | 5 years ago
1. Socrates is mortal
2. Mortals die
3. Socrates dies
Deduction is really like amazing. Holy shit we really proved something spectacular here. I guess you would be really impressed if I used tau and sigma and defined death with vietnamese alphabet.
Almost the entirety of calculus was derived from problems related to physics. Volumes were calculated for doing engineering. Mathematics != Thinking. The last time I checked both logic and critical thinking were branches of philosophy.
All good mathematicians are physicists or engineers. Heck some even learnt maths on their own. All mediocre mathematicians write textbooks and hide behind notations. Come to think of it they remind me of OO programmers in their utter arrogant mediocrity. Most abstract mathematics is like the definition of protocols/interfaces and other platonic garbage. I suppose this debate will never end. Plato vs Aristotle, Deduction vs Induction, Analytic vs Synthetic ....
an_android|5 years ago
Further, that phrase is bigoted. What you are implying is that someone with OCD is "lesser" or "other" as you are using the phrase to discount the person you are talking with. Hence it is bigoted.
In fact, it is obvious that you have no idea what you are talking about. Mathematics is not "just notation" in the same way software engineering is not "just programming language syntax", music is not just "notes on a piece of paper", and literature is not just "grammar rules".
If you cannot see that, I suggest you read more and expand your view of the world. Don't hurl insults at others.
If you want a more concrete example, show that the sum:
1 + (1/2)^2 + (1/3)^2 + (1/4)^2 + ... = pi^2/6
That is, first define what it means to take a sum of an infinite number of terms, prove that your definition is consistent with a sum of a finite number of terms, and then show that the sum is exactly pi^2/6. Showing that they agree to 100 billion decimal places is not enough. You need to show they are exact.
When you are done with that, find an exact closed form for the sum:
1 + (1/2)^3 + (1/3)^3 + (1/4)^3 + ...
gspr|5 years ago
He won't. I keep running into people like this all the time. They are hellbent on the idea that anything they don't understand must be meaningless, useless, or the fault of others. If you get a reply at all, I suspect it will be something like "pi is just a meaningless approximation to a real physical concept" or "infinite series don't actually exist in real life, I'll sum the first 1000000 terms on a computer and that's all that exists".
gspr|5 years ago
In the face of what? No system for writing numbers? Sure. Arabic numerals? No way, they're far superior to Roman ones.
> Almost the entirety of calculus was derived from problems related to physics.
No it is not. It is/was largely motivated by problems in physics. One may obtain a lot of intuition about calculus from physical intuition, but one does not obtain calculus from it.
> Volumes were calculated for doing engineering.
Yes. And?
> Mathematics != Thinking.
I don't see anyone in this thread claiming that.
> The last time I checked both logic and critical thinking were branches of philosophy.
I thought we were talking about math?
> All good mathematicians are physicists or engineers.
This is patently not true. Tell me how many Abel prize winners of Fields medalists are physicists or engineers. There are indeed some, but they are a minority – your claim is absurd.
> Heck some even learnt maths on their own.
Absolutely. Can you elaborate on how this is relevant?
> All mediocre mathematicians write textbooks and hide behind notations.
What are you on about? As a mediocre mathematician myself, I must admit I have never written a textbook.
> Most abstract mathematics is like the definition of protocols/interfaces and other platonic garbage.
You have made it abundantly clear that you haven't that slightest grasp of abstract mathematics. Would you at least humor me as to provide a few examples?