From time to time, I find myself reflecting on the wisdom of my old friend
Hywel, and this time in particular, on the anti-representational nature of his epistemology. Hywel was well known for his aphorisms and most famously the declaration that: "Mathematics is fine, but it is better to know what you are doing". Occasionally, I would hear this as a staunch refutation of math envy. Upon more gracious reflection it occurs to me that there is much to be gained from substituting, in the aphorism, "Mathematics" for "Representation". Perhaps, even better would be the declaration that: "Representation is fine, but it is better to know directly". Hywel would often decry the existence of numbers, to which Frank would playfully reply, "Hywel, how many mothers do you have"? Hywel's response was a tacit smile, his wisdom would need to wait for a more amenable moment. Hywel's thought was radically empirical. The *world* itself was the thing to know and everything else an, often convenient, illusion. To proceed with the discussion, granting mothers, was to already concede a denotational worldview that was not his own. It is perhaps more insightful to reflect on his views on non-units. Hywelian epistemology admits no two things the *same*. To discuss neutrinos with him, the area of his expertise, was to discuss the experiments themselves, the blips of particle detectors, and the tubs of baby oil. Relations always between direct perceptions. To ask him about the exchangeability of protons was to have a discussion about particle decay. All symmetries, illusory. While representationalists find themselves in paradox pondering the source, whence objects come? Hywel's epistemology finds no such concern and continues to find purchase out there among the stars. -- Sent from: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ |
Such are the joys of dualism!
n Nick Thompson [hidden email] https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/ -----Original Message----- From: Friam <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of jon zingale Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2021 5:24 PM To: [hidden email] Subject: [FRIAM] Hywel's anti-representationalism From time to time, I find myself reflecting on the wisdom of my old friend Hywel, and this time in particular, on the anti-representational nature of his epistemology. Hywel was well known for his aphorisms and most famously the declaration that: "Mathematics is fine, but it is better to know what you are doing". Occasionally, I would hear this as a staunch refutation of math envy. Upon more gracious reflection it occurs to me that there is much to be gained from substituting, in the aphorism, "Mathematics" for "Representation". Perhaps, even better would be the declaration that: "Representation is fine, but it is better to know directly". Hywel would often decry the existence of numbers, to which Frank would playfully reply, "Hywel, how many mothers do you have"? Hywel's response was a tacit smile, his wisdom would need to wait for a more amenable moment. Hywel's thought was radically empirical. The *world* itself was the thing to know and everything else an, often convenient, illusion. To proceed with the discussion, granting mothers, was to already concede a denotational worldview that was not his own. It is perhaps more insightful to reflect on his views on non-units. Hywelian epistemology admits no two things the *same*. To discuss neutrinos with him, the area of his expertise, was to discuss the experiments themselves, the blips of particle detectors, and the tubs of baby oil. Relations always between direct perceptions. To ask him about the exchangeability of protons was to have a discussion about particle decay. All symmetries, illusory. While representationalists find themselves in paradox pondering the source, whence objects come? Hywel's epistemology finds no such concern and continues to find purchase out there among the stars. -- Sent from: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ |
Slight clarification. Hywel said, "The number one does not exist." I think he was talking about measurement error and that no physical object is exactly one meter long. That's when I asked him how many mothers he had. --- Frank C. Wimberly 140 Calle Ojo Feliz, Santa Fe, NM 87505 505 670-9918 Santa Fe, NM On Wed, Mar 24, 2021, 5:59 PM <[hidden email]> wrote: Such are the joys of dualism! - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ |
Spin ½ objects are spin up or down, no? What is going on with the length of an object below the +/- 0.1 nm absolute precision of a meter? From: Friam <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of
Frank Wimberly Slight clarification. Hywel said, "The number one does not exist." I think he was talking about measurement error and that no physical object is exactly one meter long. That's when I asked him how many mothers
he had. --- On Wed, Mar 24, 2021, 5:59 PM <[hidden email]> wrote:
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Too bad you can't ask Hywel. --- Frank C. Wimberly 140 Calle Ojo Feliz, Santa Fe, NM 87505 505 670-9918 Santa Fe, NM On Wed, Mar 24, 2021, 8:45 PM Marcus Daniels <[hidden email]> wrote:
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Aw, heck! Let’s do a séance “Hywel, if you can hear us, make the screen blink three times.” Nick Thompson https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/ From: Friam <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of Frank Wimberly Too bad you can't ask Hywel. --- On Wed, Mar 24, 2021, 8:45 PM Marcus Daniels <[hidden email]> wrote:
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Seance--next best thing. Here is an essay Hywel sent me. Good writer. I tried to post this years ago but it was too large. The link should work. Frank --- Frank C. Wimberly 140 Calle Ojo Feliz, Santa Fe, NM 87505 505 670-9918 Santa Fe, NM On Wed, Mar 24, 2021, 9:23 PM <[hidden email]> wrote:
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Rad. I am listening to it now.
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In reply to this post by jon zingale
That is one of the nicest obituaries I’ve seen. —Barry On 24 Mar 2021, at 19:24, jon zingale wrote:
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Agreed. Thanks, Jon. --- Frank C. Wimberly 140 Calle Ojo Feliz, Santa Fe, NM 87505 505 670-9918 Santa Fe, NM On Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 8:07 AM Barry MacKichan <[hidden email]> wrote:
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