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From: Matt on 6 Jul 2010 03:17
On Tue, 06 Jul 2010 01:00:00 +0300, Aatu Koskensilta wrote:

>Matt <30days(a)net.net> writes:
>
>> The conditions at and type of death are irrelevant?
>
>The conditions at and type of death of Cantor are quite relevant as far
>as the dangers of pondering imponderable infinities while clinically
>depressed are concerned, in so far as we regard a single data point as
>relevant.

True. If one is obsessed to solve the unsolvable, it seems like a
recipe to compound madness.

Being off balance to begin with and then insisting on making a mark
that can't be made may take one further off balance.


>Mathematically speaking, it's of no consequence even if Cantor
>went mad and murdered all of Germany, by ferociously biting at their
>ankles while reciting Bacon, as an unfortunate result of too much
>mulling over infinite infinities of unspeakable character.

We may be further along if Cantor had not suffered from depression,
had not been confined to a mental hospital, and enjoyed more
productive years than he did.

Mathematics doesn't speak much to life. It is its own abstract world
which works fine apart from any physical reality, human relationships,
etc. Math doesn't care about people. People should care about people;
it's part of being human as opposed to being a machine.

Humanly speaking, it matters a lot whether he had gone on a rampage.

From: Matt on 6 Jul 2010 03:17
On Mon, 5 Jul 2010 15:17:56 -0700 (PDT), Don Stockbauer wrote:

>On Jul 5, 5:00�pm, Aatu Koskensilta <aatu.koskensi...(a)uta.fi> wrote:
>> Matt <30d...(a)net.net> writes:
>> > The conditions at and type of death are irrelevant?
>>
>> The conditions at and type of death of Cantor are quite relevant as far
>> as the dangers of pondering imponderable infinities while clinically
>> depressed are concerned, in so far as we regard a single data point as
>> relevant. Mathematically speaking, it's of no consequence even if Cantor
>> went mad and murdered all of Germany, by ferociously biting at their
>> ankles while reciting Bacon, as an unfortunate result of too much
>> mulling over infinite infinities of unspeakable character.
>
>You're exactly right. I mean, like it's of no consequence whatsoever
>what happens here on the planet. If we all die it doesn't matter,
>there's 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 other suns out to the
>cosmological event horion, more beyond that, with gazillions of other
>planets with intelligent life just waiting in line to fill in for us,
>so we would not be missed in the least, even by us, after we
>dissociate.

Wow! What a dismal outlook.

There are more encouraging views. I suggest adopting one of those.

First, whether there is life elsewhere is an unanswered question. You
may think it is a certainty, comparable to "there must be, somewhere
in the endless digits of pi, a string of one million ones in a row."
There is no guarantee of either being true.

Second, what does "to fill in for us" mean? It sounds like if we don't
do something, it won't get done. And the universe would be at a loss
if that doesn't happens so someone must "fill in for us" if we're not
here to do it. I think that's probably not far from the truth.

I prefer to believe it matters that we are here.

http://isu.indstate.edu/ilnprof/ENG451/ISLAND/
"No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes
me, because I am involved in mankind."

From: purple on 6 Jul 2010 09:15
On 7/6/2010 2:17 AM, Matt wrote:

> I prefer to believe it matters that we are here.

In the big picture we aren't going to alter the mass or the
orbit of the earth, or any other heavenly body.
From: Don Stockbauer on 6 Jul 2010 09:36
On Jul 6, 2:17 am, Matt <30d...(a)net.net> wrote:
> On Mon, 5 Jul 2010 15:17:56 -0700 (PDT), Don Stockbauer wrote:
> >On Jul 5, 5:00 pm, Aatu Koskensilta <aatu.koskensi...(a)uta.fi> wrote:
> >> Matt <30d...(a)net.net> writes:
> >> > The conditions at and type of death are irrelevant?
>
> >> The conditions at and type of death of Cantor are quite relevant as far
> >> as the dangers of pondering imponderable infinities while clinically
> >> depressed are concerned, in so far as we regard a single data point as
> >> relevant. Mathematically speaking, it's of no consequence even if Cantor
> >> went mad and murdered all of Germany, by ferociously biting at their
> >> ankles while reciting Bacon, as an unfortunate result of too much
> >> mulling over infinite infinities of unspeakable character.
>
> >You're exactly right.  I mean, like it's of no consequence whatsoever
> >what happens here on the planet.  If we all die it doesn't matter,
> >there's 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 other suns out to the
> >cosmological event horion, more beyond that, with gazillions of other
> >planets with intelligent life just waiting in line to fill in for us,
> >so we would not be missed in the least, even by us, after we
> >dissociate.
>
> Wow! What a dismal outlook.
>
> There are more encouraging views. I suggest adopting one of those.
>
> First, whether there is life elsewhere is an unanswered question. You
> may think it is a certainty, comparable to "there must be, somewhere
> in the endless digits of pi, a string of one million ones in a row."
> There is no guarantee of either being true.
>
> Second, what does "to fill in for us" mean? It sounds like if we don't
> do something, it won't get done. And the universe would be at a loss
> if that doesn't happens so someone must "fill in for us" if we're not
> here to do it. I think that's probably not far from the truth.
>
> I prefer to believe it matters that we are here.
>
> http://isu.indstate.edu/ilnprof/ENG451/ISLAND/
> "No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes
> me, because I am involved in mankind."

Well, Matt, that paragraph was actually tongue-in-cheek, written after
a discouraging series of exchanges in this thread. It's a mindset
that someone could fall into if they're not careful. In reality I
believe that just as the neurons in our brains form minds via peer-
peer messaging, the human beings of the Earth form a global brain
similarly, and then global brains around the galaxy communicate and
form a galactic brain, and that (possibly?) galaxies communicate to
form the Universal brain, if there is enough time.
From: Jesse F. Hughes on 6 Jul 2010 10:16
purple <purple(a)colorme.com> writes:

> On 7/6/2010 2:17 AM, Matt wrote:
>
>> I prefer to believe it matters that we are here.
>
> In the big picture we aren't going to alter the mass or the
> orbit of the earth, or any other heavenly body.
>

Yes, and what could be meaningful, aside from being really, really
heavy?

Great point!
--
"These mathematicians are worse than communists, as how do you explain
their behavior? I *am* the American Dream, fighting for what should be
mine, having to get past weak-minded academics who are fighting to
block my success. But I shall prevail!!!" -- James S. Harris
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