Conversation

this was so good, and helps me understand your project better! in particular, i didn’t realize how much was predicated on “rationalism = ability to achieve certainty” before the early/mid 1900s. reminds me of the role of the “great chain of being” during middle ages

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kevin simler

@kevinsimler

btw I don’t understand this sentence my brain wants “inconceivable” to be “conceivable.” which of us is getting confused by too many negatives??

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Nathan Spears

@spearofsolomon

perhaps something like "therefore the previously inconceivable idea that sane people could challenge the Law and Order agenda had become conceivable."

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kevin simler

@kevinsimler

that’s exactly how my brain wants to read it. not sure if it’s what david intends though

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This passage is unclear to me too but I interpreted "they" as hippies, etc (not establishment) in cited ex and understood it to be like "we never taught anyone that Euclid shows rat provides certainty so I'm not sure where this pushback is coming from." I could be totally wrong.

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mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk

Also, in browsing the internet on this topic, I found this great speech by Johannes Haantjes given in 1945 echoing a lot of the same themes that David brings up. It was interesting to compare/contrast the two.

The certainty of geometry

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Also, not directly related but still an interesting side note is this Einstein quote from the foreword of Galileo's _Dialogue_. zsr.wfu.edu/2014/systema-c

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David Chapman

@Meaningness

Yes… there were credible murder threats against Einstein and he had to go into hiding for a while.

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