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There's also this, from a similar milieu: "good notation has a subtlety and suggestiveness about it which at times makes it seem almost like a live teacher . .
by theoh 10y ago
There's also this, from a similar milieu:
"good notation has a subtlety and suggestiveness about it which at times makes it seem almost like a live teacher . . . and a perfect notation would be a substitute for thought." Bertrand Russell.
("diagram chasing" in category theory might be an example of thought being almost eliminated by a notation...)
- stcredzero 10y agoa perfect notation would be a substitute for thought." -- Bertrand Russell. Something that would only be said by someone who never thought about the time and space complexity of theorem proving algorithms. (Given his areas of contribution, I can't be sure if he ever did or he didn't.)
- theoh 10y agoHe also said "Most people would rather die than think; many do." In other words, not all human cognition is "thought", for Russell. So I don't think he's making any claim that implies total absence of computation with a perfect notation. I'd say he's in the clear on this one.