[FRIAM] Trapped in the house. Was: Seminal Papers in Complexity

[Robert Holmes]

On 6/27/07, Glen E. P. Ropella <gepr at tempusdictum.com> wrote:
>
> <snip>

p.s. My argument above does not make the word "mathematician" useless by

> ascribing it to _everyone_ (as Bristol did when implying that every
> thing is emergent).  It is only ascribed to those who attempt to form
> rigorous conceptions of the things around them and use those conceptions
> to interact with the world.


You are correct, your definition of a mathematician does not include
everyone; however it does include everyone you are likely to meet on the
street. Those who do not "attempt to form rigorous conceptions of the things
around then and use those conceptions to interact the world" often have
difficulty getting out of their houses because (i) they do not  (by
definition) have a conception of where their front-doors are and (ii) even
if they do find them they cannot (again by the above definition) work out
how to interact with them.

Robert
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