Monday, November 13, 2006
JSH: Learning mathematics
People lie.
That is actually a good reason for someone who just gets sick of the lies to come to mathematics.
I don't try to get people to like me. Notice posters acting like that's a big deal?
Who cares? People lie all the time about all kinds of things. And then they go off and kill other people for lies, or rape, or steal, or just do whatever they can to make some other person miserable, and for what?
For lies.
In mathematics, if you start with a truth and proceed by logical steps then the conclusion you find then MUST BE TRUE.
It is not a surprise to me that some people came into mathematics and learned to lie with it.
People lie.
But if you want to learn mathematics you need to step outside of the group and learn to do something that most human beings are incapable of doing: accepting the truth because it is logically proven.
And not because your are told something is true.
Most human beings, no matter what they say, are incapable of truly believing something just because it is logically proven to be true.
They believe things because their parents taught them a certain way or thing. Or they look around and notice a lot of other people nodding their heads and they agree for that reason.
Mathematicians—true mathematicians—are a breed apart.
You have been given a test of a generation. I came into a situation requiring special handling, as most important to me is excluding out people who rely on group processes to believe.
I want those people who prove.
This process continues which is why now is a good time to send this message.
The group will fight the truth and if anyone out there is one of those special people then I want you to watch them, to understand how most human beings see the world and come to conclusions.
And understand that mathematicians—real mathematicians—must hold to a higher ideal.
Only then can you learn the true mathematics and begin to understand your world, the reality that underpins it, and comprehend the future that awaits us all.
If I find one other person then this has been worth it. If not, then, well, you'll see.
That is actually a good reason for someone who just gets sick of the lies to come to mathematics.
I don't try to get people to like me. Notice posters acting like that's a big deal?
Who cares? People lie all the time about all kinds of things. And then they go off and kill other people for lies, or rape, or steal, or just do whatever they can to make some other person miserable, and for what?
For lies.
In mathematics, if you start with a truth and proceed by logical steps then the conclusion you find then MUST BE TRUE.
It is not a surprise to me that some people came into mathematics and learned to lie with it.
People lie.
But if you want to learn mathematics you need to step outside of the group and learn to do something that most human beings are incapable of doing: accepting the truth because it is logically proven.
And not because your are told something is true.
Most human beings, no matter what they say, are incapable of truly believing something just because it is logically proven to be true.
They believe things because their parents taught them a certain way or thing. Or they look around and notice a lot of other people nodding their heads and they agree for that reason.
Mathematicians—true mathematicians—are a breed apart.
You have been given a test of a generation. I came into a situation requiring special handling, as most important to me is excluding out people who rely on group processes to believe.
I want those people who prove.
This process continues which is why now is a good time to send this message.
The group will fight the truth and if anyone out there is one of those special people then I want you to watch them, to understand how most human beings see the world and come to conclusions.
And understand that mathematicians—real mathematicians—must hold to a higher ideal.
Only then can you learn the true mathematics and begin to understand your world, the reality that underpins it, and comprehend the future that awaits us all.
If I find one other person then this has been worth it. If not, then, well, you'll see.
# posted by James Harris @ 21:49 
