JSH: Say anything
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From: JSH on 17 Jun 2010 23:05 Arguing on Usenet is not about right or wrong. It's about people who like to argue. I admit that and I like to argue. Actually I could just as easily attack my own research, and have done so in the past and that didn't matter either! Posters take positions antagonistic to me as THAT'S WHAT YOU DO on Usenet, or you can't argue. Arguing IS the point. And it's not like any of us have to do anything anyway. If I'm right my math will win out regardless. If I'm wrong, it never will, regardless. Easy. But arguing is FUN. So that's what happens, but it's not this thing of cosmic significance or anything. Usenet is a fringe area of mathematics. It's where the math rejects go so that SOMEONE may actually listen to them, or at least they can play pretend that they matter. But they don't. IF they mattered, then they could go somewhere else. It's the gutter system of the mathematical world. James Harris
From: Jesse F. Hughes on 17 Jun 2010 23:29 JSH <jstevh(a)gmail.com> writes: > Posters take positions antagonistic to me as THAT'S WHAT YOU DO on > Usenet, or you can't argue. That's just not true. -- "Mathematicians are rather important in the infrastructures of many organizations that protect civilization. I've determined that they are a consistent security risk, and seem to have other agendas, other loyalties beyond loyalty to their respective nations." -- James Harris
From: JSH on 18 Jun 2010 00:06 On Jun 17, 8:29 pm, "Jesse F. Hughes" <je...(a)phiwumbda.org> wrote: > JSH <jst...(a)gmail.com> writes: > > Posters take positions antagonistic to me as THAT'S WHAT YOU DO on > > Usenet, or you can't argue. > > That's just not true. Funny. But also telling. You have to take an opposite position or arguing goes away. I like to argue. It's fun. And I'll admit that one of the problems with actually being right is that if you have massively big results, sane people stop arguing with you--usually. But what if they don't think anyone believes you? On Usenet they convince themselves. So endless arguing long past the point where others would stop, especially when dealing with someone who, um, could actually be right. Being right is very boring. I prefer to consider the possibility that my ideas are wrong. But I also feel a responsibility if they are right. So you have a sense of conflict. After all, if I *were* known as one of the greatest mathematical discoverers in human history, and if it were accepted that people who argued with me were the "cranks" and "crackpots", what kind of fun arguments could I have then? Those who know understand know that having a lot of people agreeing with you can be easier than the alternatives, and far less satisfying. It's easier to get agreement. It's also massively boring. I've learned a lot just by having people disagree with me. Usenet makes that easy. And it IS made up of the dregs of math society. I actually like something I said earlier. Usenet is the gutter system of math society. It's the gutter system of lots of established societies. That's what makes it work. It is most often a sewer system beneath the mainstream world. And here there can be monsters playing along happily with the rats. Here there be monsters. James Harris
From: Jim Ferry on 18 Jun 2010 00:27 On Jun 17, 11:05 pm, JSH <jst...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > Usenet is a fringe area of mathematics. It's where the math rejects > go so that SOMEONE may actually listen to them, or at least they can > play pretend that they matter. But they don't. > > IF they mattered, then they could go somewhere else. > > It's the gutter system of the mathematical world. > > James Harris If you're frustrated with the inanity of sci.math, perhaps you should try http://vixra.org/. The number theory section there has more publications than all other areas of mathematics combined, which suggests that it might be right up your alley.
From: Mark Murray on 18 Jun 2010 05:53
On 06/18/10 04:05, JSH wrote: > Usenet is a fringe area of mathematics. It's where the math rejects > go so that SOMEONE may actually listen to them, or at least they can > play pretend that they matter. But they don't. Welcome to the cesspit! M -- |