VAuroch comments on Proofs, Implications, and Models - Less Wrong

58 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 30 October 2012 01:02PM

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Comment author: TsviBT 30 October 2012 01:09:30AM 4 points [-]

Ok, fair enough. My philosophy professors were the logically-rudest adults I've spoken to. Actually, that's not even true. Rather, my philosophy professors were the people I most hoped would have less than the standard rudeness, but did not at all.

An anecdote: spring quarter last year, I tried to convince my philosophy professor that logic preserves certainty, but that we could (probably) never be absolutely certain that we had witnessed a correct derivation. He dodged, and instead sermonized about the history of logic. At one point I mentioned GEB, and he said, I quote, "Hofstadter is something of a one trick pony". Here, "one trick" refers to "self-reference". I was too flabbergasted to respond politely.

Comment author: VAuroch 12 December 2013 10:39:51AM -1 points [-]

To be fair, Hoftstadter is basically a one-trick pony, in that he published one academically-relevant book and then more or less jumped straight to Professor Emeritus in all but name, publishing very little and interacting with academia even less.

Comment author: Laoch 12 December 2013 10:54:48AM 0 points [-]

Just wishing I had read GEB sooner. Reading it now and it seems to be getting ruined by politics.

Comment author: VAuroch 12 December 2013 01:15:06PM 1 point [-]

Politics? I don't understand how.

Also, above comment should in no way be taken as criticism of GEB. It's great. It's just that that's pretty much all he has to his credit.

Comment author: Laoch 12 December 2013 01:33:53PM 0 points [-]

I mean people want to tear chunks out of it for status reasons... ...I think.