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Lunchmeat Larry posted:As a lawyer, same. Hail fellow child of lies CestMoi posted:If you do not have a strong grasp of mathematics and its place in the Western philosophical tradition then I am afraid you are not allowed to post in this thread. I remember finding out my university had a philosophy of math class I could take for math credits instead of Algebra II. It owned. Mel Mudkiper fucked around with this message at 17:08 on Feb 23, 2016 |
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Feb 23, 2016 16:58
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Or A Frolic of his Own
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Feb 23, 2016 17:10
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Mel Mudkiper posted:I remember finding out my university had a philosophy of math class I could take for math credits instead of Algebra II. It owned. My philosophy prof "invited" me to take this class after I said that math was based on logic. Or that logic came before math? I can't remember, but apparently this is something they haven't been able to prove. I didn't care enough to take the class though. But if it makes you feel better, a lot of the actually useful equations that we use don't have solutions, so we come up with approximate "good enough" answers, and there's a lot of subjectivity behind that.
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Feb 23, 2016 17:27
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Flattened Spoon posted:My philosophy prof "invited" me to take this class after I said that math was based on logic. Or that logic came before math? I can't remember, but apparently this is something they haven't been able to prove. I didn't care enough to take the class though. It was a cool class. It was taught by a pre-Second Gulf War Iraqi refugee with a doctorate in mathematics and it was basically about how the Muslims invented all math.
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Feb 23, 2016 17:37
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Mr.48 posted:I would prefer to read a book about actual mathematics, or the biography of a real mathematician. I have never read a novel that did a good job at portraying a mathematicians work and after skimming some reviews I am kind of curious whether A Doubter's Almanac has managed this. Not sure if I am curious enough to check it out anytime soon though.
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Feb 23, 2016 17:48
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Mel Mudkiper posted:It was a cool class. It was taught by a pre-Second Gulf War Iraqi refugee with a doctorate in mathematics and it was basically about how the Muslims invented all math. They stole the numbers from the Indians actually.
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Feb 23, 2016 17:50
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Math, Physics, Law, and Economics: Things people outside the discipline believe are rigorous and exact and people inside the discipline wish were. One time while reviewing a local municipality's criminal codes I discovered that by a plain reading they'd banned playing football at football games, punishable by a $300 fine per pass. Mel Mudkiper posted:Al-Jabr 
Nakar fucked around with this message at 17:57 on Feb 23, 2016 |
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Feb 23, 2016 17:51
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CestMoi posted:They stole the numbers from the Indians actually. Al-Jabr
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Feb 23, 2016 17:52
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CestMoi posted:They stole the numbers from the Indians actually. And right wingers dedicated to the pure, unbiased search for truth tell me a lot of the "Muslims" doing work here were crypto-Jews or Zoroastrians living under Muslim rule.
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Feb 23, 2016 18:14
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true.spoon posted:Let me use this opportunity to recommend Winfried Scharlauer's Who Is Alexander Grothendieck? Part 1: Anarchy, the first in a three part biography about one of the greatest contemporary mathematician who also had an interesting life and personality to say the least. It focuses on his parents and how his upbringing relates to Grothendieck's life and work. The third part is about his turn to spirituality and has not yet been translated to English, the second part which focuses on his mathematical work has not been released as of now. Although Scharlauer is a mathematician himself, I found his writing pretty ok and he can talk about anything math related with a certain authority. Thanks for the recommendation, I'll check it out!
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Feb 23, 2016 22:40
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blue squares posted:If you haven't taken a formal logic class then welcome to my ignore list I only took philosophy intro but I'm probably on your ignore list already so I guess I'll just mock you in this post but actually I'm too tired bye
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Feb 23, 2016 22:57
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blue squares posted:If you haven't taken a formal logic class then welcome to my ignore list Does this mean that if I'm on your ignore list I haven't taken a formal logic class? I may have failed my formal logic class.
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Feb 23, 2016 23:29
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Did anyone else hear a faint voice in the wind that cried "feminazis!" before being suddenly silenced?
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Feb 23, 2016 23:30
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Cloks posted:Does this mean that if I'm on your ignore list I haven't taken a formal logic class? No you have your syllogism wrong
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Feb 23, 2016 23:31
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blue squares posted:No you have your syllogism wrong 
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Feb 23, 2016 23:35
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Ever since I finished the last book I was reading (Everything I Never Told You), I've been bouncing from book to book and finding it very hard to stay interested in any one thing. Not sure why. I tried some more exciting things but they still didn't grab me. So I opened up Book 2 of My Struggle. I finished Book 1 maybe a year ago and I forgot just how captivating this series is. The subject matter is so simple, but I just can't stop reading.
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Feb 23, 2016 23:52
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blue squares posted:Ever since I finished the last book I was reading (Everything I Never Told You), I've been bouncing from book to book and finding it very hard to stay interested in any one thing. Not sure why. I tried some more exciting things but they still didn't grab me. I just started Book 2 myself, and I'm hoping it's not too much to ask for it to rival the first one.
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Feb 23, 2016 23:59
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Mr.48 posted:I would prefer to read a book about actual mathematics, or the biography of a real mathematician. read one of those Paul Erdős biographies, he was cool
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Feb 24, 2016 00:51
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Just finished John Williams' three novels. Probably my favourite author. Does anyone know of anything stylistically similar?
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Feb 24, 2016 09:28
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Do we talk about historical novels in here? The War of the Roses is something I've been learning about recently and so yesterday picked up The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman. Has anyone else read this book or have any other recommendations for British historical novels?
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Feb 25, 2016 12:41
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krampster2 posted:Do we talk about historical novels in here? The War of the Roses is something I've been learning about recently and so yesterday picked up The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman. Has anyone else read this book or have any other recommendations for British historical novels? I just read Wolf Hall and it was super rad, about Thomas Cromwell advising Henry VIII while he was trying to ditch his first wife and marry Anne Boleyn.
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Feb 25, 2016 19:22
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If you want to get realer after that, I recommend Vacant Possession also by Mantell.
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Feb 25, 2016 19:28
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The General in His Labyrinth is pretty rad, also.
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Feb 25, 2016 20:59
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Guy A. Person posted:I just read Wolf Hall and it was super rad, about Thomas Cromwell advising Henry VIII while he was trying to ditch his first wife and marry Anne Boleyn. I read this a couple years ago and had a good time with it. Although I've still yet to get around to reading the sequel. I should buy that sometime.
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Feb 25, 2016 21:10
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Grizzled Patriarch posted:The General in His Labyrinth is pretty rad, also.
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Feb 26, 2016 02:23
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Thanks for the recommendations guys. I'm trying to step up my historical novel reading to above the level of Ken Follett.
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Feb 26, 2016 03:04
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The Death of Virgil is my favourite 'historical novel'
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Feb 26, 2016 04:16
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A human heart posted:The Death of Virgil is my favourite 'historical novel'
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Feb 26, 2016 07:33
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mallamp posted:I've never seen anyone under 70 recommend that one before that's because you're gbs
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Feb 26, 2016 22:21
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The Iliad is the best historical novel.
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Feb 27, 2016 00:46
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Threads not a fan of John Williams huh? It tends to get overshadowed by The Magic Mountain but Thomas Mann's Joseph and his Brothers is the best thing he ever wrote and it's historical.
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Feb 27, 2016 02:00
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iccyelf posted:It tends to get overshadowed by The Magic Mountain but Thomas Mann's Joseph and his Brothers is the best thing he ever wrote and it's historical. Thomas Mann's best work is Doctor Faustus. Joseph and His Brothers is a monstrosity.
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Feb 27, 2016 02:08
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Bandiet posted:Thomas Mann's best work is Doctor Faustus. Joseph and His Brothers is a monstrosity. Cool. No accounting for taste, I guess.
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Feb 27, 2016 02:34
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iccyelf posted:Just finished John Williams' three novels. Probably my favourite author. Does anyone know of anything stylistically similar? I can't help you unfortunately but I can say I looooved Stoner. Just read it last week. Planning on picking up Butchers Crossing next, then finishing with Augustus. His style sorta reminded me of realist authors of the early 20th century like Stephen Crane or Jack London, which was appropriate since the story started off round that time period. I'm about a sixth of the way into Ulysses right now, my first time reading it. Eased in with Dubliners and Portrait of an Artist, both of which I loved. So far it's living up to the hype. Leopold Bloom's chapters are really helping me appreciate the little things in my own life, lame as that sounds.
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Feb 29, 2016 00:33
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DoctorG0nzo posted:I'm about a sixth of the way into Ulysses right now, my first time reading it. Eased in with Dubliners and Portrait of an Artist, both of which I loved. So far it's living up to the hype. Leopold Bloom's chapters are really helping me appreciate the little things in my own life, lame as that sounds. I'm rereading it too, and I've (re-)discovered this beautiful bit. You might not have come up to it yet, it's Episode 9. Previously I found this chapter boring, but weirdly it speaks to me a lot more now. It's Stephen talking about Shakespeare. It's one of the moments where he makes the most sense. quote:Maeterlinck says: If Socrates leave his house today he will find the sage seated on his doorstep. If Judas go forth tonight it is to Judas his steps will tend. Every life is many days, day after day. We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love, but always meeting ourselves. It's not as funny this go-round, oddly, I find it a lot more melancholy. A lot of death and failed relationships. edit: Also, did historical novel guy get Name of the Rose recommended to him? Jrbg fucked around with this message at 03:06 on Feb 29, 2016 |
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Feb 29, 2016 03:04
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J_RBG posted:I'm rereading it too, and I've (re-)discovered this beautiful bit. You might not have come up to it yet, it's Episode 9. Previously I found this chapter boring, but weirdly it speaks to me a lot more now. It's Stephen talking about Shakespeare. It's one of the moments where he makes the most sense. Interestingly enough, I had just left off at the start of chapter 9 today (would've been up for reading more if it was a Bloom chapter, but didn't have a Stephen chapter in me). I'll probably check back in about it tomorrow. I do love reading Stephen's stuff; can't help but chuckle at some of his somber moments considering what a little horndog he was in parts of Portrait.
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Feb 29, 2016 04:09
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Sorry for the double post, but I've just finished chapter 9 (as you can see I'm taking it rather slowly) and it was excellent. It was interesting to see just how much more focused Stephen is when talking about literature, and just how much of his analysis was pulled from his own experiences. The section you quoted had struck me on its own but really jumped at me in context. I feel like it's a statement of what I feel the novel's theme is so far - that every person we see every single ordinary day is a full person going through their own struggles, but we see them as a reflection of ourselves. Since they see everything the same way, everyone is truly connected in this profound way. Not to mention that in context he brings both Shakespeare creating many characters from himself and a few others, and even God (the Son is the Father is the Holy Spirit etc), implicitly equating the creative to a god. Could be totally off base but that's how I read it. drat I love this book
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Mar 1, 2016 22:22
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Uh, I just had a sensible, well-read friend of mine return my copy of The Name of the Rose I had loaned him, saying he had to give up after 50 pages because he couldn't take how superficial it was, and then he said it seemed along the same lines as the DaVinci Code. I think he gave me an aneurysm. All I could say was, " Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattt?? Nooooooooooooooooo," and then my face went numb and my head hurt really bad.
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Mar 4, 2016 01:09
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Your friend burned you
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Mar 4, 2016 01:20
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Might be a friendship ender.
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Mar 4, 2016 10:21
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