JellevanDijk.org

ant on the beach

Just a quote in passing

26 May 2010 admin  

5 Responses to “Just a quote in passing”

1. on 26 May 2010 at 10:10 pm 1rik almekinders

   A clear mind is not so cheap.

2. on 27 May 2010 at 8:33 am 2admin

   preparing for your ‘functioneringsgesprek’, rik?

3. on 27 May 2010 at 8:39 am 3admin

   but the idea was, as I see it, that mathematics is not the ‘pure thought’ (as opposed to physics, that is then seen as ‘applied thought’, when you test to the world empirically)

   In my interpretation of this quote I would say that everyday life is even more expensive than, say, particle physics at CERN.

   This is because mathematics is a human activity just like physics and just like all other human activities (getting up and making breakfast) and they all have the same structure: you take action in a world and you perceive what happens and these actions and perceptions get coupled over time into patterns that seem to work well for you in that environment. but the mathematician’s world is a cheap world, because if you lose a coupling with that world you don’t have to apply for new funding for an expensive particle accellerator, you simply take a new sheet of paper and start over again. But in everyday life, losing a coupling with the world could be much more disastrous, you could lose your life (e.g. when you cross a street and lose a coupling with the traffic).

4. on 27 May 2010 at 11:55 am 4rik almekinders

   Ah, it is very hopefull that you recognize the existence of ‘couplings’ and ‘patterns’!
   I read the comicbook ‘Logicomics’ and I found out that a new mathematic idea cost a lot more than just another sheet of paper. Human lifes, my friend!

5. on 04 Jun 2010 at 12:04 pm 5jelle

   Logicomics is a nice book, I have it too!

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