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This is exceedingly common language in the mathematical community, particularly for the generation of Scott Aaronson and the one before him.
by thebooktocome 14y ago
This is exceedingly common language in the mathematical community, particularly for the generation of Scott Aaronson and the one before him.
- bobwaycott 14y agoOh, okay. Thank you so much for pointing that out to me. I somewhat assumed as much, and I honestly wasn't intending to create anything remotely ad hominem in my critique. Since it's not so common in hardly anything I typically read, it just stuck out strangely (I am only just digging into understanding QM/QP). Again, sincere thanks.
- andyjohnson0 14y agoAre they referring to a God in the religious sense, or using it as a shorthand for "nature" or "the universe"?
- thebooktocome 14y agoSome of them are no doubt serious; I seem to remember a study showing that mathematicians are more likely to be theist than atheist. In my experience, "Why did God pick X?" and the like is shorthand for, "Is there a classification/uniqueness theorem that says X is the only possible solution to the problem?", which is how it is used here.
- bobwaycott 14y agoAgain, thanks for drawing out the shorthand. I personally prefer reading the "is there a classification/uniqueness theorem that says..." over "why did God choose to...". It requires zero cycles to process the intent of the first version, while the second makes me stop each time and wonder which one the author means.