tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post3106864547143689889..comments2024-03-27T03:19:11.216-04:00Comments on Assistant Village Idiot: SuspicionAssistant Village Idiothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-30515131038588736842012-09-08T18:19:34.026-04:002012-09-08T18:19:34.026-04:00If my thinking is entirely managed by things not u...If my thinking is entirely managed by things not under my control, how come I can do mathematics, and communicate with others who can, and learn? I can't think of any biochemical adaptation that is at all likely to produce theorems about Lie algebras. That leaves either "me" or something like Socrates daemon.<br /><br />In mathematics, at least, reasoning is precise and not frail--inadequate, maybe, but not frail.<br /><br />So if the same tool (reasoning) is applied in fuzzy ways in other aspects of life the model that comes to mind is not of a rubber hammer but of a micrometer trying to measure jello. Just because a tool is applied sloppily doesn't mean the tool is inferior, or that there isn't a careful way of using it.<br /><br />I have no problem with the notion that our suppositions can be approximate and therefore our conclusions approximate. They can be adequate anyway--enough to stake an eternity on.jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01792036361407527304noreply@blogger.com