(flashing philosophical credentials) :-P All this stuff about existing in mind and existing in reality reminds me of St. Anselm's proof of the existence of god (Hettinga's Hashed Layman's Version 1.0(tm)): 1. Conceive of perfection. 2. You have just demonstrated that perfection can exist in mind. 3. It is more perfect to exist in mind and in reality than to exist solely in mind. 4. Define god as perfection. 5. Therefore god exists. Now this Midieval brainbuster was pretty much beat to death sometime in the Enlightment, though somebody respectable in the late 19th century (Frege?) liked it a lot... This GUT and P=NP thing smells awfully like scholastic bickering, don't ya think? Just my (unmathematical) opinion... Bob Hettinga ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah@shipwright.com) "There is no difference between someone Shipwright Development Corporation who eats too little and sees Heaven and 44 Farquhar Street someone who drinks too much and sees Boston, MA 02331 USA snakes." -- Bertrand Russell (617) 323-7923
Since Robert Hettinga specifically addressed his post to me, I presume he had me in mind when he wrote:
(flashing philosophical credentials) :-P
This GUT and P=NP thing smells awfully like scholastic bickering, don't ya think?
Look, I'm fed up with people giving advice on how such-and-such a topic is "far afield" form what they want to hear about. I'm especially unamused by folks (not Robert H., by the way) writing up a long post and then ending with a statement to the effect "But this is really not a crypto subject, so I suggest we not discuss this further."!! Translation: "I just wrote two pages on this, but I want the last word." I mean no insult by this...at least one of the frequent offenders here I also count as my friend. Im just pointing out the absurdity of it. If one thinks a topic is unimportant to the topics at hand, DON'T COMMENT! Equally absurd are all the anti-Detweiler posts, which simply gives him the attention from us he craves so much. (Even this post will. But then I'm not writing "Can't we just stop talking about Detweiler?" posts, unless this is counted as such, ironically.) What I'm saying is this: * if a topic bores you, delete it, or filter it. * but don't moralize about it as being "off-topic," when it clearly is "on-topic' to some people--the house of Cypherpunks has many rooms. * especially don't be so nervy as to write a long rebuttal to some post and then end with a suggestion that no further discussion is needed. That's what I have to say. And having said it, may I suggest that this is not really a crypto issue, and hence could you all just take my words as the last ones on this subject? (:-} for the smiley-impaired) ----Tim May -- .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."
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