4 ms·

Just be Glad You Aren’t Pythagoras’ Student…

15 points by MikeCapone 18y ago

unalone 18y ago
Fascinating story. I think it's worth saying, though, that the Greeks didn't have the same view on death that we do. For them, this world was brief before an eternal afterlife, and unlike nowadays that was really firmly believed to be true. Doesn't make it any less horrific, but just a slight bit of context.
- blackguardx 18y ago
  I don't see how you can say that the Greeks were more devout than people are today.
  - unalone 18y ago
    They existed in a very primitive time when it was believed that gods were responsible for everybody. Mathematicians believed that what they did, they did for the gods. The belief system was very devout and, it it was still around today, fanatic.
    - blackguardx 18y ago
      I find this statement a little naive. Sure, the Greeks had religion. You are arguing that the Greeks believed more deeply in it that modern peoples? I can't fathom that. Just look around you. In the United States, at least, there are many devoutly religious people. Sometimes it is hard to separate belief from custom. As outsiders, looking back on the Greeks through their intact manuscripts, I don't think we can make a judgment about their devoutness. Devoutness, after all, is measured only by someone's internal deliberations, not his or her outward actions or expressions.
      - unalone 18y ago
        But you forget the context of the times we live in. We have a world that scientists have mostly explained. We have hope that the rest of the world will be explained through science. We have reason to believe that. We've had dogmatic belief struck down by courts time and time again, and we're continuing to make progress. The ancient Greeks were often brilliant. But they lived in an irrational world in which nothing made logical sense. Look at their literature. Every story is religious in nature. It's always about the gods interacting with people, punishing people, getting drunk and screwing people. It's fascinating stuff and I love it. But to compare to modern society, that's like if every single story had God coming down from the heavens to help one side or the other. The Greeks NEEDED God in their lives. We don't.
- astine 18y ago
  The Greek's understanding of the after-life was nothing like that of modern Christians. They feared death pretty strongly (except for the stoics.) It was said: "Better to be a pauper among the living than a king among the dead."
randomwalker 18y ago
Wikipedia says there are three different stories about what Hippasus discovered and what happened to him as a result, and that all of these are likely false. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippasus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippasus (I've met Simon Singh; he's a great entertainer, but he's the last person I'd cite for something like this :-) Another story I've read about the theorem was that Pythagoras himself discovered it, and sacrificed oxen because it upset his world view. http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/~demo5337/Group3/hist.html http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/~demo5337/Group3/hist.html
- MikeCapone 18y ago
  Thank for the info. I guess a lot of stuff from a couple thousand years ago are unreliable. cough bible cough

15 points by MikeCapone 18y ago

Fascinating story. I think it's worth saying, though, that the Greeks didn't have the same view on death that we do. For them, this world was brief before an eternal afterlife, and unlike nowadays that was really firmly believed to be true. Doesn't make it any less horrific, but just a slight bit of context.

blackguardx 18y ago
I don't see how you can say that the Greeks were more devout than people are today.
- unalone 18y ago
  They existed in a very primitive time when it was believed that gods were responsible for everybody. Mathematicians believed that what they did, they did for the gods. The belief system was very devout and, it it was still around today, fanatic.
  - blackguardx 18y ago
    I find this statement a little naive. Sure, the Greeks had religion. You are arguing that the Greeks believed more deeply in it that modern peoples? I can't fathom that. Just look around you. In the United States, at least, there are many devoutly religious people. Sometimes it is hard to separate belief from custom. As outsiders, looking back on the Greeks through their intact manuscripts, I don't think we can make a judgment about their devoutness. Devoutness, after all, is measured only by someone's internal deliberations, not his or her outward actions or expressions.
    - unalone 18y ago
      But you forget the context of the times we live in. We have a world that scientists have mostly explained. We have hope that the rest of the world will be explained through science. We have reason to believe that. We've had dogmatic belief struck down by courts time and time again, and we're continuing to make progress. The ancient Greeks were often brilliant. But they lived in an irrational world in which nothing made logical sense. Look at their literature. Every story is religious in nature. It's always about the gods interacting with people, punishing people, getting drunk and screwing people. It's fascinating stuff and I love it. But to compare to modern society, that's like if every single story had God coming down from the heavens to help one side or the other. The Greeks NEEDED God in their lives. We don't.
astine 18y ago
The Greek's understanding of the after-life was nothing like that of modern Christians. They feared death pretty strongly (except for the stoics.) It was said: "Better to be a pauper among the living than a king among the dead."

randomwalker 18y ago

Wikipedia says there are three different stories about what Hippasus discovered and what happened to him as a result, and that all of these are likely false. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippasus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippasus (I've met Simon Singh; he's a great entertainer, but he's the last person I'd cite for something like this :-) Another story I've read about the theorem was that Pythagoras himself discovered it, and sacrificed oxen because it upset his world view. http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/~demo5337/Group3/hist.html http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/~demo5337/Group3/hist.html

MikeCapone 18y ago
Thank for the info. I guess a lot of stuff from a couple thousand years ago are unreliable. cough bible cough