Reductionism

[stone space]

Sociologists really want to be Psychologists.

Psychologists really want to be Biologists.

Biologists really want to be Chemists.

Chemists really want to be Physicists.

Physicists really want to be God.

And God really wants to be a Mathematician.

[goldent]

1. So say the Mathematicians.

I felt much more comfortable with Math when I heard the quote by von Neuman

Young man, in mathematics you don't understand things. You just get used to them.

[LostOne4Ever]

2. I always understood math this way

Mathematicians are the laziest people on the planet.

There is nothing they love more than finding some shortcut to get their work done. Mulitplication is a shortcut to addition. Division is a short cut to subtraction, matrices are a shortcut to factoring equations or solving polynomials, trig identities are a shortcut to geometry, Calculus is a shortcut to analyitical geometry, ect...

They will put in 10x more work than is needed just to find a shortcut to doing their work in the first place

[longship]

3. ROFL!

Boy, hope there's only the two threads.

Still, it's still worth R&K ing.

[stone space]

4. Well, if there was a Math group here, there'd be 3.

But unfortunately, I had to settle for Science and Religion.

[longship]

5. Well played my friend.

Not sure where religion comes into this thing unless it is an argument for final cause. But it is humorous.

[stone space]

6. It does kind of raise the question of who or what causes mathematics.

I did consider adding a line about how Mathematicians really want to be Artists.

From there on down, it's Turtles all the way.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramsey's_theorem

[cbayer]

7. Love it.

I loved math but couldn't see anywhere to go with it.

I now have a son in law who recently got his PhD in math and is really set for life.

[stone space]

8. Cool. Do you know what field of mathematics he specializes in? (nt)

[cbayer]

9. Some kind of applied math that predicts oil futures.

He had job offers out the whazoo, but decided to take a faculty position at Johns Hopkins.

And, despite all this, he's extremely lovable, personable and funny.

[trotsky]

10. "despite all this"??

WTF?

Do you mean that despite the fact he's good at math, he's a nice person?

Between this and your labeling of some people as "Spocks" really concerns me. As if you view those whose brains lean toward the hard sciences as incomplete or lesser people - and they surprise you when they have a personality.

Again I repeat: WTF?