tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290524889657823805.post691403941931942581..comments2023-06-28T10:51:33.204+02:00Comments on For the promotion of rigour and rationality: Brain scans and beauty in mathematicsTakis Konstantopouloshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675216467783238403noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290524889657823805.post-86711798523501080442014-02-14T23:29:04.435+01:002014-02-14T23:29:04.435+01:00Sabio, thanks to your remark, I managed to save th...Sabio, thanks to your remark, <a href="http://randomprocessed.blogspot.se/2014/02/changing-comment-fonts-on-blogger.html" rel="nofollow">I managed to save the comments' fonts</a>.Takis Konstantopouloshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14675216467783238403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290524889657823805.post-62549982603439181082014-02-14T22:25:37.568+01:002014-02-14T22:25:37.568+01:00Yes, indeed, thanks.Yes, indeed, thanks.Takis Konstantopouloshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14675216467783238403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290524889657823805.post-73410304235031097382014-02-14T17:16:59.488+01:002014-02-14T17:16:59.488+01:00Oh.
First, I take a nominalist approach -- Platoni...Oh.<br />First, I take a nominalist approach -- Platonic ideals are mistaken ideas. They don't exist.<br />These are abstractions which trick us into thinking there is something real behind them that is very different from all the on-the-ground activities that the abstraction is actually addressing.<br /><br />Is that more clear?Sabio Lantzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12963476276106907984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290524889657823805.post-48055442773167865472014-02-14T16:22:39.319+01:002014-02-14T16:22:39.319+01:00Oh, it's just a semantics question. You said:
...Oh, it's just a semantics question. You said:<br /><br />And just as a I don't thin[k] "Beauty" is a Platonic real item, so "Morality" is not.<br /><br />Is this supposed to mean that, according to you,<br /><br />Neither "Beauty", nor "Morality" is a Platonic real item.<br /><br />As for bold fonts, I noticed it too, but there is no obvious way to fix it. Takis Konstantopouloshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14675216467783238403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290524889657823805.post-60229627968111680272014-02-14T16:12:57.282+01:002014-02-14T16:12:57.282+01:00Nice fix -- why is everything bold font.
I did no...Nice fix -- why is everything bold font.<br /><br />I did not understand your question.<br />But I like putting operational definitions on things like beauty and morality to make clear that they are convention.<br />Is that clear?Sabio Lantzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12963476276106907984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290524889657823805.post-5003454584400552582014-02-14T15:56:50.827+01:002014-02-14T15:56:50.827+01:00Sabio,
That's why I'm saying we should be...Sabio,<br /><br />That's why I'm saying we should be cautious... I won't deny the beauty in mathematics, but I can also see a lot of ugliness. So you say that neither beauty nor morality are "platonic items"? <br /><br />As for the suggestion, thanks. I think I managed to change the settings. I think. Takis Konstantopouloshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14675216467783238403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8290524889657823805.post-12727389491977122472014-02-14T14:27:19.292+01:002014-02-14T14:27:19.292+01:00I have not read the article, but it is testing bra...I have not read the article, but it is testing brain areas the light up during music. Is it "beauty", I doubt it. Imagine that you do the brain scan on a person listening to their favorite rap or watching their favorite stripper or petting their dear dog or cat.<br /><br />People get pleasures from lots of things and this varies from person to person. Heck, if their standards are low, they may even enjoy Riemann's Functional Equation.<br /><br />And just as a I don't thing "Beauty" is a Platonic real item, so "Morality" is not. There is no "morality" waiting to be discovered. There are people's preferences which match their constitution, environment, training and much more.<br /><br />The study shows people get kicks out of Math -- that is not surprising. But I am sure mathematicians want it to say much more.<br /><br />(Maybe I should read the article, but that is my suspicion)<br /><br />Suggestion Takis: put your comments in-line with your post -- don't open on a separate page.Sabio Lantzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12963476276106907984noreply@blogger.com