4 ms·
We do grasp mathematics, some of us anyway, so clearly that’s false but I doubt it was meant literally. The linked articles are interesting, thanks, they seem t
by simonh 4y ago
We do grasp mathematics, some of us anyway, so clearly that’s false but I doubt it was meant literally. The linked articles are interesting, thanks, they seem to show the cognitive mechanisms we use to engage in mathematical thinking. I’d rather say that understanding or performing mathematics is, how to say this, cognitively expensive for human minds. It takes an awful lot of effort, because while we have cognitive mechanisms suitable to the task, there not very efficient for that purpose.
> Also, I'm not sure how Godel's death is relevant.
Godel did a lot of seminal work on how to analyse statements and beliefs and how to reason about their truth or falsehood, yet died as a direct result of holding a (presumably) false belief.
- bmitc 4y agoThe books those articles summarize are very good, although I haven’t completed either. I’m familiar with Godel, but he was mentally ill. He had several phobias and mental disorders, and at the end, his wife became severely ill and was no longer able to care for and feed him, so he starved himself to death. Mental illness and the fragility of the human mind and psyche have little to do with mathematics being first and foremost a human creation and endeavor.