4 ms·

Yeah, saying Russell invented types is fun but horribly wrong. He invented other things and stood at the center of an explosion in formal logics. But types are

by tel 5y ago

Yeah, saying Russell invented types is fun but horribly wrong. He invented other things and stood at the center of an explosion in formal logics. But types are way old.

JoBrad 5y ago
Maybe he invented it the way that many people think the color blue was invented? Causing everyone to see something for the first time (especially when it was right under our noses) is certainly impressive.
- EarthLaunch 5y ago
  In my game design I've imagined two parallels to invention; discovery and identification. All three are learning about the world, but in slightly different ways. Invention: I created that. Discovery: I found that lying around. Identification: I conceptualized a definition for that.
- tel 5y ago
  This is certainly more true. That explosion of logics I mentioned was a big movement of many authors to expand our understanding of types (among other things).
titzer 5y ago
When people say a mathematician "invented" something, it's understood that they didn't create it from nothing. Newton didn't "invent" gravity, for example, he just came up with the first mathematically rigorous theory for it. Same for Russell and types.
- wlib 5y ago
  This shows a funny way that the word invent has shifted in meaning. Invent means “found” (almost literally “came upon” in Latin) - yet for some reason it shifted to mean “created” in a sort of “this is mine don’t steal it from me” sense. Then here we are clarifying that we literally mean the actual meaning of the word. It’s interesting that math is considered impossible to have as intellectual property, yet we think somehow that IP law is justifiable for everything else.
  - titzer 5y ago
    Yeah, that is odd. The german word is "erfunden" which is something like "completely found".
  - Koshkin 5y ago
    > we literally mean the actual meaning Also, in the everyday speech the word "literally" no longer means what it was meant to mean.
- tel 5y ago
  I understand that distinction. Russell came up with a mathematically rigorous theory for the foundations of mathematics and happened to use a very simple type system to accomplish it. He wasn't the first to formally make use of types, though he may have been the first to use that term. He also seriously pushed forward our techniques of mathematical rigor, so in some sense he "invented" many, many, many things. To be clear, I think Russell was an amazing mathematician and inventor. I also think that the history of types is way more rich and interesting than just saying that he invented the idea. To not mention at least Frege is to miss a lot.

by tel 5y ago

Yeah, saying Russell invented types is fun but horribly wrong. He invented other things and stood at the center of an explosion in formal logics. But types are way old.

JoBrad 5y ago

Maybe he invented it the way that many people think the color blue was invented? Causing everyone to see something for the first time (especially when it was right under our noses) is certainly impressive.

EarthLaunch 5y ago
In my game design I've imagined two parallels to invention; discovery and identification. All three are learning about the world, but in slightly different ways. Invention: I created that. Discovery: I found that lying around. Identification: I conceptualized a definition for that.
tel 5y ago
This is certainly more true. That explosion of logics I mentioned was a big movement of many authors to expand our understanding of types (among other things).

titzer 5y ago

When people say a mathematician "invented" something, it's understood that they didn't create it from nothing. Newton didn't "invent" gravity, for example, he just came up with the first mathematically rigorous theory for it. Same for Russell and types.

wlib 5y ago
This shows a funny way that the word invent has shifted in meaning. Invent means “found” (almost literally “came upon” in Latin) - yet for some reason it shifted to mean “created” in a sort of “this is mine don’t steal it from me” sense. Then here we are clarifying that we literally mean the actual meaning of the word. It’s interesting that math is considered impossible to have as intellectual property, yet we think somehow that IP law is justifiable for everything else.
- titzer 5y ago
  Yeah, that is odd. The german word is "erfunden" which is something like "completely found".
- Koshkin 5y ago
  > we literally mean the actual meaning Also, in the everyday speech the word "literally" no longer means what it was meant to mean.
tel 5y ago
I understand that distinction. Russell came up with a mathematically rigorous theory for the foundations of mathematics and happened to use a very simple type system to accomplish it. He wasn't the first to formally make use of types, though he may have been the first to use that term. He also seriously pushed forward our techniques of mathematical rigor, so in some sense he "invented" many, many, many things. To be clear, I think Russell was an amazing mathematician and inventor. I also think that the history of types is way more rich and interesting than just saying that he invented the idea. To not mention at least Frege is to miss a lot.