tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26036687.post6789183084093602196..comments2023-10-28T11:34:33.746-04:00Comments on a geocentric view: The One Thing Humans Can Agree Onmollishkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056975190057844089noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26036687.post-56566725129106169532008-01-02T00:33:00.000-05:002008-01-02T00:33:00.000-05:00"Math [...] doesn't really seem to be in the same ..."Math [...] doesn't really seem to be in the same category: it's not arbitrary, it just <I>is</I>."<BR/><BR/>But <I>is</I> it? From a purely formalist perspective, math is entirely arbitrary, but I think there's evidence that human mathematicians aren't pure formalists. Concepts like counting are so deeply ingrained into many cultures that they're practically congenital, and I wouldn't be surprised if some ideas in geometry, such as the recognition of right angles, were actually hardwired into our brains. Is this evidence that some parts of mathematics exist outside our heads? What would it even <I>mean</I> for mathematics to exist outside our heads?<BR/><BR/>Happy new year!Aaronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18281785407407667986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26036687.post-75234971380299530842008-01-01T21:35:00.000-05:002008-01-01T21:35:00.000-05:00Math (and, to an extent, science [though science i...Math (and, to an extent, science [though science is often political and people seem to deny its truth more readily]) doesn't really seem to be in the same category: it's not arbitrary, it just <I>is</I>... and many many many many more people simply don't know what, for example, the definition of π is, let alone what its numerical value is.mollishkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16056975190057844089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26036687.post-60985574152998387612008-01-01T20:39:00.000-05:002008-01-01T20:39:00.000-05:00Everybody agrees on the value of 'Pi'Haapy New Yea...Everybody agrees on the value of 'Pi'<BR/><BR/>Haapy New Year!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26036687.post-17723273267390643872008-01-01T13:32:00.000-05:002008-01-01T13:32:00.000-05:00Yeah, to be fair, it does amaze me that pretty muc...Yeah, to be fair, it does amaze me that pretty much the entire world recognizes CE.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, I think that's made up for by letting every single country make up its own rules about how its time zones are going to work, and then change them whenever they feel like it.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10911417934138555124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26036687.post-91342782052320299642008-01-01T13:20:00.000-05:002008-01-01T13:20:00.000-05:00Yeah, I should have seen this coming, but it seems...Yeah, I should have seen this coming, but it seems I was a little too tired last night to remember to state: I meant "Common Era"/"CE". Sure people may have their own special calendar they use for other things, but the agreement is that today is January 1, 2008 CE, even if it is also ROC.97-01-01.mollishkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16056975190057844089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26036687.post-83613382644895512852008-01-01T11:12:00.000-05:002008-01-01T11:12:00.000-05:00And Thailand thinks it's January 1, 2551. But they...And Thailand thinks it's January 1, 2551. But they do celebrate the western New Year's.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10911417934138555124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26036687.post-61282465953198544502008-01-01T05:58:00.000-05:002008-01-01T05:58:00.000-05:00Well, Saudi Arabia seems to still use the Islamic ...Well, Saudi Arabia seems to still use the <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_calendar#Uses" REL="nofollow">Islamic lunar calendar</A> for official purposes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com