"Michael Ragland"  wrote
>
> This is a "very" long article which traces the history of math and
> argues it is largely responsible for current alienation in civilization
> and from our human nature. Since "numbers" and math are often used on
> s.b.e. I was curious to see what other posters thought of the thesis. I
> don't agree with everything the author says and he did seem a little
> touched but at the same time I think he presents his case.
>
I don't think most of the article is really topical (yes, maths did evolve
and continues to evolve, but we are interested in biological evolution).
One topical point he makes is that hunter-gatherers had little use for
number. However every language has some number terms, and it would be
interesting to see what is the lowest that each naming system goes up to.
English peters out in the trillions (1000 billion), though of course we have
technical terms that go much beyond that.

It is amazing and philosophically interesting that human are capable of
doing mathematics, though we do it very inefficiently. For instance a long
division can be completed by a machine costing a few dollars in
microseconds, whilst for humans it is a test of intelligence, and steadily
drilled at primary school.

They conclude
"When the world and its thought (Levi-Strauss and Chomsky come immediately
to mind) reach a condition that is increasingly mathematized and empty
(where computers are widely touted as capable of feelings and even of life
itself), the beginnings of this bleak journey, including the origins of the
number concept, demand comprehension.  It may be that this inquiry is
essential to save us and our humanness."

I think this is plain wrong. Non-computer programmers enjoy science fiction
about intelligent robots because they don't understand the problems
involved. There is no consensus amongst though inthe know about whether
genuine AI is inherently possible or not, but everyone agrees that we don't
even know how to set about building something like R2D2.
---
þ RIMEGate(tm)/RGXPost V1.14 at BBSWORLD * Info{at}bbsworld.com

---
 * RIMEGate(tm)V10.2áÿ* RelayNet(tm) NNTP Gateway * MoonDog BBS
 * RgateImp.MoonDog.BBS at 7/12/04 10:09:44 PM