(no subject)

[johnny9fingers]

For some reason or other, this discussion made a middle-aged man slightly happy:

http://community.livejournal.com/philosophy/1898307.html

Even more so because I neither initiated it, nor have had any hand in't as the debate has progressed. Small glee, in petto, if that's the phrase; which suits my small compass and narrow horizons.

Comments

[ankh156.livejournal.com]

I used to think myself clever enough to 'do' philosophy. I studied it for 3 years and was given an II:i for my assiduosity. Asked now if I judge myself clever enough to 'do philosophy' I think I'd candidly answer 'no'. I don't think it's the current decrepitude of my grey matter which informs my current attitude. (While there is certainly some decrepitude, I don't think it's critical - yet.) Rather, I don't (now) think I'm as clever as I used to think I was. I threw myself into a 2-year course on Kant and epistemology. I got through with good marks, but all that mental athletic training is hardly in evidence these days, except for the ability to avoid obvious logical mistakes. Philosophy used to be an older man's pastime, these days it looks rather more like a young man's sport.

:/

[johnny9fingers.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty certain I'm not clever enough for philosophy either: the only thing I have to offer in such debates is my wide reading allied to too much time spent hanging around with Pure Mathematicians. However, when one of my pet mathematical diversions comes up unannounced, I get a warm glow.

[vlion.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, the cardinality of infinities. It's a classic "blow the young comp sci undergraduate mind" thought.

It typically goes like so...

Older guy(senior in cs/math, grad student): "So did you know that there are different sizes of infinity"?

Freshman(thinks he's God's gift to the world): "Bull...you're having me on".

O: "Ha. No. Look, suppose you have the rationals. Now notice that there's sqrt(2), which has been proved to not be rational. cardinality(rationals) + sqrt(2) > cardinality(rationals)".

F: "..."

F: "......"

O: "I don't need recreational drugs, thank you very much. Ta!

F: "...woooaah"