Thursday, October 31, 1996
To whomever is annoyed by my posts, Zen meditations
I admit up front that I'm an amateur trying to communicate with the professionals, so I have to do things differently.
I started on FLT for many reasons, not the least of which is is an excellent way to break down the ego: Nothing like a simple to formulate impossible (or nearly impossible) problem to prove to bring down high opinions.
I considered it a better koan than the usual stuff you get with Zen (like "what is the sound of one hand clapping").
Well, like many people, I came up with something that I thought answered it and excitedly went to mathematicians to tell somebody. I think you know the reception I got. Well, that just made me more determined and I was able to get greater access to the editors of AMS than many of you have ever had. And, I had nothing.
Well, I went back to my koan, and found that my escapades were great for breaking down my ego and were embarrassing besides. Luckily, some of you were kind enough to send me some nice words which I deeply appreciate.
Then, about a week ago, having learned much more about this problem, I was again confronted with a solution (which actually blows this as a koan, they aren't supposed to have solutions). So I made posts hoping that someone would help me like before.
I started on FLT for many reasons, not the least of which is is an excellent way to break down the ego: Nothing like a simple to formulate impossible (or nearly impossible) problem to prove to bring down high opinions.
I considered it a better koan than the usual stuff you get with Zen (like "what is the sound of one hand clapping").
Well, like many people, I came up with something that I thought answered it and excitedly went to mathematicians to tell somebody. I think you know the reception I got. Well, that just made me more determined and I was able to get greater access to the editors of AMS than many of you have ever had. And, I had nothing.
Well, I went back to my koan, and found that my escapades were great for breaking down my ego and were embarrassing besides. Luckily, some of you were kind enough to send me some nice words which I deeply appreciate.
Then, about a week ago, having learned much more about this problem, I was again confronted with a solution (which actually blows this as a koan, they aren't supposed to have solutions). So I made posts hoping that someone would help me like before.
# posted by James Harris @ 06:43 
