FOM: General Intellectual Interest

Pat Hayes phayes at ai.uwf.edu
Wed Mar 24 13:33:45 EST 1999


>Shipman wrote 1:38PM 3/21/99:
>
>>>In support of Steve's contention that F.O.M. is of great "general
>>>intellectual
>>>interest",
>>>this week's TIME magazine names the 20 most influential minds of the 20th
>>>century
>>>(actually 24 people since three were teams), and the only mathematicians on
>>>the list are Godel and Turing, both of whom are central to f.o.m.
>
>Hayes 11:52AM 3/23/99 wrote:
>
>>Maybe the question to ask is, how many mathematicians work for TIME, Inc.?
>>
>Maybe the question to ask is, how many logicians work for TIME, Inc.?
>Maybe another question to ask is, why did Hayes ask his question?

Sorry if I was too elliptical. I meant only to suggest that one shouldnt
take a survey conducted by a magazine such as TIME as being in any way
authoritative in any matter requiring intellectual insight or specialized
technical knowledge of almost any topic, except perhaps Washington
politics. Sorry if this sounds snobbish. My cynicism is however based on my
own experience.

Best wishes

Pat Hayes

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