7 ms·

Sets are probably one of the most dull objects in maths, or at least overused as the become dull. Everything is a set, a circle is the set of points with a dist

Sets are probably one of the most dull objects in maths, or at least overused as the become dull. Everything is a set, a circle is the set of points with a distance r from the center c, and so on. There are a lot more interesting things to write about than yet another article about Russels paradox. Maybe next time do the Erlanger program on why everything is a reflection.

sureglymop 4y ago
I think they are used everywhere because you can describe everything with them easily. I mean i still prefer a set of points over a newly introduced definition of a "circle" just to be able to express a problem in mathematical language. It's kind of the same for functions too, they're used to describe so many things sometimes in a weird context too. I think the best abstraction is that which creates as little mental overhead as possible. Sets and relations are pretty basic and simple in that regard.
082349872349872 4y ago
I found it more an article about Snow, about the short 20th century (do we have a better name for it yet?), about admissible plays in Glass Bead Games, than merely about Russell, who was but the hors d'oeuvre. (and, far from being dry —or at least, if you are having dry sets, you might consider paying more attention to your interlocutor before introducing connectives—, Comfort has as much as Sunak to do with this article)
greenbit 4y ago
The linked article isn't about sets as such. The item could just as easily have been titled The Plight of the Primes or The Anguish of Undecidability There's a bit more going on there than just what's your favorite kind of math.
adastra22 4y ago
This article isn't about sets.
- edgyquant 4y ago
  I clicked into the comments hoping to find a bunch of discussion on set theory only to be let down.
rumblerob 4y ago
I think the headline is a mild pun on the book The Joy of Sex: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Joy_of_Sex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Joy_of_Sex Sets really only get mentioned once in passing; the article is more a general defense of the beauty of mathematics.
- alan-crowe 4y ago
  Perhaps continuing the riff that Steven Strogatz started with his book: The Joy of x. https://www.stevenstrogatz.com/books/the-joy-of-x https://www.stevenstrogatz.com/books/the-joy-of-x
c54 4y ago
Fitting username for someone who didn’t read even the beginning of the article
- KrugerDunnings 4y ago
  Yea, this is HN for you
pklausler 4y ago
When non-mathematicians ask me to tell them something interesting about math, I show them the lambda calculus. It's straightforward and there's a kind of narrative involved when talking about reduction. Then it's fun to blow their minds with how this simple rewriting process can be used to implement anything that a computer can do.

sureglymop 4y ago

I think they are used everywhere because you can describe everything with them easily. I mean i still prefer a set of points over a newly introduced definition of a "circle" just to be able to express a problem in mathematical language. It's kind of the same for functions too, they're used to describe so many things sometimes in a weird context too. I think the best abstraction is that which creates as little mental overhead as possible. Sets and relations are pretty basic and simple in that regard.

082349872349872 4y ago

I found it more an article about Snow, about the short 20th century (do we have a better name for it yet?), about admissible plays in Glass Bead Games, than merely about Russell, who was but the hors d'oeuvre. (and, far from being dry —or at least, if you are having dry sets, you might consider paying more attention to your interlocutor before introducing connectives—, Comfort has as much as Sunak to do with this article)

greenbit 4y ago

The linked article isn't about sets as such. The item could just as easily have been titled The Plight of the Primes or The Anguish of Undecidability There's a bit more going on there than just what's your favorite kind of math.

adastra22 4y ago

This article isn't about sets.

edgyquant 4y ago
I clicked into the comments hoping to find a bunch of discussion on set theory only to be let down.

rumblerob 4y ago

I think the headline is a mild pun on the book The Joy of Sex: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Joy_of_Sex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Joy_of_Sex Sets really only get mentioned once in passing; the article is more a general defense of the beauty of mathematics.

alan-crowe 4y ago
Perhaps continuing the riff that Steven Strogatz started with his book: The Joy of x. https://www.stevenstrogatz.com/books/the-joy-of-x https://www.stevenstrogatz.com/books/the-joy-of-x

c54 4y ago

Fitting username for someone who didn’t read even the beginning of the article

KrugerDunnings 4y ago
Yea, this is HN for you

pklausler 4y ago

When non-mathematicians ask me to tell them something interesting about math, I show them the lambda calculus. It's straightforward and there's a kind of narrative involved when talking about reduction. Then it's fun to blow their minds with how this simple rewriting process can be used to implement anything that a computer can do.