From: FredJeffries on
On Aug 11, 9:55 pm, Transfer Principle <lwal...(a)lausd.net> wrote:
>
> Say a sci.math states that a finite natural number is one which
> has a real-world physical application. I can then recast this
> definition as, "n is a finite natural number iff when asked 'Is n a
> natural number?' at his birth, Y-V will answer 'yes' sometime
> prior to his death."

So you do not consider RSA numbers to be "a real-world physical
application"?


From: FredJeffries on
On Aug 11, 9:37 pm, Transfer Principle <lwal...(a)lausd.net> wrote:
> On Aug 7, 7:49 am, FredJeffries <fredjeffr...(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On Aug 6, 9:14 pm, Transfer Principle <lwal...(a)lausd.net> wrote:
> > > I've been thinking about how to come up with an axiom that
> > > states the existence of _TO's_ infinitesimals.
> > > And we need a theory other than ZF, and an axiom other
> > > than the ultrafilter axiom, to obtain TO's infinitesimals.
> > So you are looking for the Magic Bullet? That entity so small that any
> > finite number of them strung together is infinitesimal but infinitely
> > many together have a finite size? The solution to "since the sum from
> > 1 to n of 1/n is 1, take the limit as n goes to infinity"? A uniform
> > distribution for the natural numbers?
> > I don't know how to give you a formalization, but I have thought of a
> > real world application:
> > Let's call our magic bullet M and we know that an omega sequence of M
> > stuck together has size 1 (sum for i = 1 to infinity of M yields 1) .
>
> In thinking about this, I just realized something here. What does it
> mean for infinitesimals like M to be "stuck together"?
>

I didn't say that the infinitesimals were stuck together. I said that
the magic bullets (each of which has infinitesimal size) are stuck
together.
From: FredJeffries on
On Aug 11, 9:55 pm, Transfer Principle <lwal...(a)lausd.net> wrote:
>
> The mathematician Y-V has been frequently mentioned as a
> counterexample to my claim that finitists are called "cranks." So,
> rather than ask why Herc, HdB, WM are called "cranks" and not
> Y-V (since no satisfactory answer can ever be given), I decide
> that I will take _advantage_ of this fact that Y-V is a finitist who
> isn't called a "crank."
>
> To take advantage of this, when a sci.math finitist is asked to
> give a coherent definition (as the inability to give such a definition
> is one often-cited reason for assigning a "crank" label), I can
> jump in and give a definition in terms of Y-V.
>
> Say a sci.math states that a finite natural number is one which
> has a real-world physical application. I can then recast this
> definition as, "n is a finite natural number iff when asked 'Is n a
> natural number?' at his birth, Y-V will answer 'yes' sometime
> prior to his death." Then this will become a non-"crank"
> definition since it's given in terms of the non-"crank" Y-V.

Sigh. You really don't get the Yessenin-Volpin story, do you? And I
feel somewhat responsible since I'm the one who told it to you...
From: Marshall on
On Aug 13, 7:58 am, FredJeffries <fredjeffr...(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Sigh. You really don't get the Yessenin-Volpin story, do you? And I
> feel somewhat responsible since I'm the one who told it to you...

He does that on purpose, to irritate people.


Marshall
From: MoeBlee on
On Aug 12, 5:59 pm, "Ross A. Finlayson" <ross.finlay...(a)gmail.com>
wrote:

> yeah Moe [...]

If you're going to address me directly, it would be nice for you to at
least write other than ungrammatical, incoherent messes.

MoeBlee