@amWhy surely i will, maybe chat about it at night👍

It's shorter than introduction of most books!

@quid I'm guessing you are very busy today, since you haven't signed in or acted on this site since last evening (evening, my time, 3:00 am your time). Nothing urgent. Just hoping you're not working "too hard"! :-)

@amWhy, what field of mathematics do u study?

@ArjunRana I teach widely (undergrad core courses, and grad courses), but I research in group theory and in math logic.

@amWhy , math logic might help in philosphy?

@ArjunRana Sure, and also in math. I also earned a PhD in philosophy, as well as in math.

@amWhy , you told me that, and it was hard to digest both times

@ArjunRana Sorry to repeat it!

hi quid

@amWhy , happens all the times;-)

@amWhy hello! Yes quite. I'll be back later but have to leave right now rather soon.

Hello @ArjunRana

@ArjunRana Sometimes I can't remember to whom I told "what".

@quid Understood! Thanks for stopping by, even if briefly!

@amWhy , even i feel in oblivion at times, no worries

@ArjunRana I look forward to hearing your response to this short story!

@amWhy ,i might want to avoid that because i am reading it now!🙂

give me 5 minutes

@amWhy :-)

@ArjunRana Don't rush it!

@amWhy , 10 minutes

@amWhy, you read it when you were 15?

@ArjunRana 14 or 15. Yes.

and understood the real meaning, not literal

i wasn't much perplexed by it util the boy in the room part came up

@ArjunRana Indeed, and it struck me profoundly.

@amWhy i guess, i'll read it some more times before i pass any comments

Of course, my concern for the Ones who walk away from Omelas has always been prominent, and I've had various theories about "where they go" ...

@ArjunRana You can be critical; no worries!

@amWhy , i am more worried about the boy, what is the reason behind it all?

giving up happiness of a child for some thousands seems plausible but why?

@ArjunRana Same as I've always been. The story raises a moral quandary, particularly about how far we should follow Utilitarianism (Greatest good for the greatest number), or whether there should be limits, if such a goal requires the torment of one or a few others. As noted in the author's comments, she took the question from William James, perhaps influenced by Dostoevsky.

@amWhy , hmmm

I think that in one's own life, one's experience of tragedy, in contrast to one's experience of joy, helps amplify the joy, because one realizes that joy is precious, but not guaranteed. But that is not the scenario, in this story.

and thanks for suggesting this masterpiece

@ArjunRana No problem! Glad to have done so. I think you're mature enough to think about this, perhaps like me, for many years. :-)

@amWhy , yep, just like being in bright sunlight and then being under a fan(feels like AC)

@ArjunRana Indeed.

@amWhy , i itentend to do the thinking part in bed today

@ArjunRana Time for bed, I take it?

have u heard about Mr Perelan

What is your time of day, right now?

@ArjunRana Not that I recall.

@amWhy , 1

@amWhy , he solved the ponciare conjecture

and refused fields medal

@ArjunRana Ahhh, yes, thanks for jogging my memory.

So you are about 9 hours ahead of me, as I am at 14:26 (2:26 pm).

documentcloud.adobe.com/link/…

@amWhy , never thought of it

@ArjunRana Thanks for the link!

He is the man, one of the bestest i have ever read about

@ArjunRana When I stated you were ahead of me, I assume you are now technically in Thursday?

the biography is perfectly written

@amWhy , yes

@ArjunRana Thanks again!

i intend to read your biography in near future

@ArjunRana Oops, I had the math wrong... You are, assuming it is 1:30 am where you are, eleven hours ahead of me.

@ArjunRana Yikes, I better start writing it, then!!

@amWhy , just see the GMT, my timezone is +5:30, u see yours

@amWhy , better start now

@ArjunRana Dr. Perelman, for the record.

@XanderHenderson Now that name I recognize! :-)

You're back, @quid!

@amWhy not really, just passing by.

@quid :P

You're welcome anytime you grace us with your presence, @quid! :-)

@amWhy Hey! Well, I wish I could be around but...complicated.

It'll be better soon.

I hope.

@quid No problem. Life gets complicated sometimes.

@amWhy "If people do not believe that mathematics is simple, it is only because they do not realize how complicated life is."

Who said it?

No cheating with Google etc

Three guesses per person. I'll give the answer when I return.

@quid You got me! Without Google, I don't know.

@amWhy but you can guess. Maybe @Xander too. Maybe @Gone might know

But I think I remember this from a comp sci class? Oh, I remember who. I'll let the others guess.

@quid In order, my guesses are (and these are out of my ass, but I really ought to know this): Hilbert, Erdos, von Neumann

I might also guess Feynmann, but given his noted distaste for philosophy, I don't see him commenting on mathematics in this way.

Bingo, @Xander, the third of your guesses!

You win a tootsie-roll!

@quid, for later, I've been receiving an uptick in downvotes again.

Yay!

@amWhy :( I'll check later.

@XanderHenderson that arrived at an odd place

Heh.

Sorry,

@quid Not a lot, and one answer I'll likely delete, as the question is questionable.

it should have been

@amWhy Yay!

Sure, I understood that.

@quid, don't worry about it. My downvotes.

song?

@geocalc33 You want a song?

yeah and I'll share one as well

One of my current favorites: I love these flashmobs!

@geocalc33 Your turn!

@amWhy soundcloud.com/john-zimmerman-960525209/purpose

@geocalc33 Thanks!

Hello, @quid. Did you see I reposted one of my favorite flashmobs: Ode to Joy! :-)

@amWhy yes I checked and recognized it.

@quid I'm not entirely sure why I was so smitten by it: the music is wonderful, but also, the video of spectators, and their reactions, and the spontaneous joy of the children add a moving touch. And the spontaneity of it all.

It's one thing to go to a concert where you expect to see and hear exactly what brought you there. But how wonderful to be out and about, with no expectations, to see and hear the music come to you!

Anyway, there was a user that posted to meta earlier, who has been rather problematic, in their subsequent actions on two questions they asked, and further questions, and their comments. I'd be happy to say more privately, but I do not want to name names here, @quid. No one action has been what I would consider flaggable, but the sum total of their disregard, across a number of posts, presents a problem.

@amWhy I now stumbled over a version from Japan

@quid Send me a link when you can :-)