I like the ballon joke better. I once was driving to Montreal and saw there was a ferry from Vermont to New York state. That seemed like fun, and, arguably, would save time. I think I missed the regular ferry but got to the shore of Lake Champlain by following home-made signs for a ferry. At the shore, the sign said, that if the operator wasn't in then pull on the string. The string went inside a trailer and soon a guy came out and said he would ferry me for $5. I agreed and drove on what looked like a raft. The car was't tied down, only the brakes restrained it. I thought it might to over the edge a few times, but it didn't. Half way ascross I looked at my map and asked the guy where was the ferry taking me. He looked as if this wasa a difficult question, but finally he said 'To the other side'
________________________________________ From: friam-boun...@redfish.com [friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Pamela McCorduck [pam...@well.com] Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2010 11:08 AM To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Palenque, Chichen Itza and Katyn In my experience, mathematicians tell this joke on themselves. There's another one they tell: Two guys in a balloon dip down to a field to ask a farmer where they are. The answer comes: You're in a balloon. The one guy says to the other, He must be a mathematician. The answer is absolutely correct and absolutely useless. On May 2, 2010, at 10:51 AM, John Kennison wrote: > > > Just a note --I've never liked that old saw about the black cow -- > mathematicians are always working with generalizations. Scientists > are the ones who claim to be working strictly with observations. > ________________________________________ ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
