Let me summarize an exchange of messages I just had with Richard. He is upset by the fact that tax dollars (NSF grants) go to people who have pleasure working. Is he unable to comprehend how this is at all possible? I wonder whether throughout his career he ever had any pleasure working...
I just hope that he won't start lobbying for making sure that any tax-funded work is always accompanied by some truly horrendous pain and suffering inducing activity, such as daily filling 100-page long forms on a typewriter... Follow-ups ro sage-flame please... On Wednesday, 25 November 2015 18:18:51 UTC, rjf wrote: > > This is a new book by Michael Harris. > > I have not read it, but there is an extensive review in the NY Review of > Books. (Dec 3, 2015) > > Apparently Harris *rejects* the argument that justifies pure mathematics > because of its beauty or truth (or its utility). He says it is motivated > by pleasure. > > Why should society pay for a small group of people to exercise > their creative powers on something they enjoy? > > "If a government minister asked me that question" says Harris, > > "I could claim that mathematicians, like other academics, are needed in > the universities to teach a specific population of students the skills > needed for the development of a technological society and to keep > a somewhat broader population of students occupied with courses > that serve to crush the dreams of superfluous applicants to > particularly desirable professions (as freshman calculus used to be a > formal requirement to enter medical school in the United States)" > > Maybe he knows someone at the NSF. :) > > Best wishes to all for a Happy Thanksgiving (USA holiday this week). > > RJF > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sage-devel" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to sage-devel+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to sage-devel@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
