RichardKennaway comments on Rationality Quotes April 2013 - Less Wrong

6 Post author: Vaniver 08 April 2013 02:00AM

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Comment author: RichardKennaway 10 April 2013 07:00:22PM 21 points [-]

BOSWELL. 'Sir Alexander Dick tells me, that he remembers having a thousand people in a year to dine at his house: that is, reckoning each person as one, each time that he dined there.' JOHNSON. 'That, Sir, is about three a day.' BOSWELL. 'How your statement lessens the idea.' JOHNSON. 'That, Sir, is the good of counting. It brings every thing to a certainty, which before floated in the mind indefinitely.'

From Boswell's Life of Johnson. HT to a commenter on the West Hunter blog.

Comment author: Document 11 April 2013 12:16:34AM 10 points [-]

If each person counts as one for each time he dines, Alexander can only claim to have personally hosted the guests at his most recent meal; the others were guests of someone else.

Comment author: odlogan 19 April 2013 08:43:22PM 8 points [-]

I think the idea is that all of the people are him.

Comment author: DaFranker 24 April 2013 07:39:05PM 2 points [-]

quick math

I used to dine with 1460 people a year in my home, reckoning each person as one each time I dined there.

Families of four are mighty terrifying, aren't they?

Comment author: MugaSofer 19 April 2013 10:58:25PM 0 points [-]

Oooh. That explains a lot...

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