Does anyone know if there is there a name for the idea that new concepts (such as negative numbers, complex numbers or type constructors in a type system) are only ever introduced into a preexisting "system" so that they can be eliminated later, after helping make some progress?
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That's reminded me of a stats lecture I had in 2002. I remember nothing except the lecturer's description of a "dual" as like taking the elevator (i.e. "lift") down to the ground floor where you can move around easily, before taking a different lift up a different building...
I use the term "lift" all the time, and I remember the lecturer's explanation, but for some reason, this was the first time I related the figurative and literal lifts...
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you're not allowed to claim that Englishmen have invented math(s) long before the Babylonians because of literal elevators
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I'm not sure even which are the figurative and the literal elevators any more...
End of conversation
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