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> The whole book is striking a middle ground between expressing every step of mathematical rigor, and describing in a more literary way how to feel about these
by dkarl 1y ago
> The whole book is striking a middle ground between expressing every step of mathematical rigor, and describing in a more literary way how to feel about these concepts
I really hate this. If you don't care to understand something, why would you want to absorb the feelings that somebody else thinks you should have from understanding it? It reminds me of all the cringey posturing that undergrads engage in because their English professor mentioned a couple of philosophers during lectures and it totally changed their wardrobe.
- jknoepfler 1y agoWhy would you hate a book exploring mathematics and reflecting on your relationship with it? What a weird thing to hate. Wouldn't you rather celebrate intellectual curiosity? Like... I hate journalism that profits off of xenophobic fear mongering. A book from a genuinely curious and interesting author who did some moonlighting in more formal subjects, though? That seems harmless and kind of cute at worst. Maybe a little misguided, maybe not. It's a weird energy to bring to a relatively innoccuous corner of the world.
- dkarl 1y agoIt's like reading a review of a novel that tells you how to feel about it, and adopting that emotional response without reading the novel itself.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- lacker 1y agoI already do understand set theory and the construction of the real numbers. There are plenty of great books on that, or really nowadays you can simply ask ChatGPT. I am interested in learning about how Cantor, Weierstrass, the ancient Greeks, and others felt, as they grappled with the challenge of making rigorous mathematics handle the infinite. That's what this book is good at.
- dkarl 1y agoThat's fair, it makes sense for people who already understand the math and are reading for the other aspects. I don't think that was his target audience, though.