shminux comments on Quotes and Notes on Scott Aaronson’s "The Ghost in the Quantum Turing Machine" - Less Wrong

16 Post author: shminux 17 June 2013 05:11AM

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Comment author: shminux 19 June 2013 04:44:00PM *  1 point [-]

Huh, I guess I am not alone in being Sidles-averse, for the same reasons.

Comment author: JohnSidles 19 June 2013 06:24:48PM *  -1 points [-]

Shminux, perhaps some Less Wrong readers will enjoy the larger reflection of our differing perspectives that is provided by Arthur Jaffe and Frank Quinn’s ‘Theoretical mathematics’: Toward a cultural synthesis of mathematics and theoretical physics (Bull. AMS 1993, arXiv:math/9307227, 188 citations); an article that was notable for its biting criticism of Bill Thurston's geometrization program.

Thurston's gentle, thoughtful, and scrupulously polite response On proof and progress in mathematics (Bull. AMS 1994, arXiv:math/9307227, 389 citations) has emerged as a classic of the mathematical literature, and is recommended to modern students by many mathematical luminaries (Terry Tao's weblog sidebar has a permanent link to it, for example).

Conclusion It is no bad thing for students to be familiar with this literature, which plainly shows us that it is neither necessary, nor feasible, nor desirable for everyone to think alike!