[FOM] my short retirement speech

[ronald graham]

Isn't this rather short?

On Thu, May 31, 2012 at 9:48 AM, Harvey Friedman <
friedman at math.ohio-state.edu> wrote:

> Ohio State University
> Department of Mathematics
> May 30, 2012
>
> (Chris Miller had just finished giving a beautiful speech from his
> interesting perspective, just before I took the floor).
>
> I want to thank all of you for recognizing my incompetence - at least in
> practical matters. And so everybody was happy not to involve me in anything
> important around here. (no laughter)
>
> You're supposed to laugh! (laughter)
>
> Now many of you don't quite know what to expect in my speech.
>
> And many of you are expecting some utterly shameless self promotion!
>
> Pause
>
> And that's exactly what you are going to get!! (laughter)
>
> So what am I going to do now?
>
> Major upgrade of my piano activities. Don't be surprised to see me playing
> solo at upscale restaurants and bars, weddings, parties, and old age homes.
> Also recordings, and on YouTube videos.
>
> I've got to make videos since I have pushed the word around that I can
> make flawless recordings without playing, through pure electronics. I've
> even fooled professional pianists with that method!
>
> There will be very usable deeply interactive software used in teaching how
> to write simple proofs. This is impossible to teach most students from
> science and engineering under normal teaching methods.
>
> This will be extensively used for gifted high school students, and typical
> science and engineering majors. This will result in a great increase in the
> awareness and respect for pure mathematics and its special status among all
> subjects.
>
> There will be an explosion of powerful algorithms that can be used to
> automatically or interactively verify computer code, facilitating the
> development of demonstrably bug free software.
>
> As confirmed by ongoing interactions with very distinguished visitors to
> the Math Dept, we now have completely natural discrete and finite
> statements in standard mathematical contexts which can only be proved using
> far more than the usual axioms for mathematics.
>
> This phenomenon will be refined and extended throughout the whole of
> mathematics, touching everyone at this gathering.
>
> This will usher in a new era of critical reconsideration of the very
> meaning of mathematics and its objectivity or certainty. This will involve
> an entirely new level of interaction between core mathematicians and the
> philosophical community.
>
> I wamt to thank you all for being here!
>
> Harvey Friedman
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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