VKS comments on Rationality Quotes April 2012 - Less Wrong

4 Post author: Oscar_Cunningham 03 April 2012 12:42AM

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Comment author: VKS 03 April 2012 07:32:16AM *  5 points [-]

The last level of metaphor in the Alice books is this: that life, viewed rationally and without illusion, appears to be a nonsense tale told by an idiot mathematician. At the heart of things science finds only a mad, never-ending quadrille of Mock Turtle Waves and Gryphon Particles. For a moment the waves and particles dance in grotesque, inconceivably complex patterns capable of reflecting on their own absurdity.

  • Martin Gardner, The Annotated Alice
Comment author: gjm 12 April 2012 10:14:54PM 4 points [-]

Leaving aside the dubiousness of calling the way the universe actually works "nonsense" and "mad": It seems very, very, very unlikely that anything in Lewis Carroll's writings was a metaphor for quantum mechanics. He died in 1898.

(I suppose something can be used as a metaphor for quantum mechanics without having been intended as one, though.)

Comment author: MixedNuts 05 April 2012 04:38:56PM 2 points [-]

What's Martin complaining about, exactly? That goodness is nowhere in physical law, so things can be unfair and horrible for no reason? That goodness is reducible in the first place? That physics is hard and therefore deserves nasty words like "absurd"?

Comment author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 05 April 2012 10:38:05PM 5 points [-]

The heck? Quantum fields are completely lawful and sane. Only the higher levels of organization, i.e. human beings, are bugfuck crazy.

Behold, the Copenhagen Interpretation causes BRAIN DAMAGE.

Comment author: VKS 06 April 2012 01:04:23AM 4 points [-]

As natural as QFT seems today, my understanding is that in 1960, before many of the classic texts in the domain were published, the ideas still seemed quite strange. We would do well to remember that when we set out to search for other truths which we do not yet grasp.

:p

Comment author: shminux 08 April 2012 06:42:10PM -1 points [-]

Maybe, but the Big World idea causes much more severe damage, judging by the recent discussions here and elsewhere.

Comment author: dbaupp 05 April 2012 12:24:24AM -1 points [-]

viewed rationally and without illusion

Lewis Carroll was religious, and to add to that, he was human.

Comment author: Pavitra 05 April 2012 01:07:36PM 13 points [-]

These threads would be very sparsely populated if we avoided quoting humans.

Comment author: dbaupp 09 April 2012 11:40:44AM 2 points [-]

You have misrepresented me. I was refuting the bit where a human was said to be doing something "rationally and without illusion": chances are that doesn't happen (especially regarding a topic as broad as "life").

Comment author: TheOtherDave 05 April 2012 01:44:55PM 1 point [-]

Upvoted for dry wit.

Comment author: wedrifid 05 April 2012 03:28:58PM 0 points [-]

Is fiction permitted? Most of my favorite quote are not from 'humans'.

Comment author: Tyrrell_McAllister 05 April 2012 02:11:07PM 2 points [-]

Lewis Carroll was religious, and to add to that, he was human.

For that matter, so was Martin Gardner.

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