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And I'm a physicist at heart. To me > and ? are the same, within experimental accuracy.

While mathematicians worry about the difference. Don't get a worse optimum I can live with! You were worrying me with the other.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Tue Jun 13th, 2006 at 07:08:37 AM EST
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I almost wrote "don't get a worse optimum" and then I thought "bah, only mathematicians would care about that, and the reast will have to do a double take and may even ask about the double negative".

guaranteed to evoke a violent reaction from police is to challenge their right to "define the situation." --- David Graeber citing Marc Cooper
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Jun 13th, 2006 at 07:10:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Bloody mathematicians.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Tue Jun 13th, 2006 at 07:12:10 AM EST
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My hands are of your colour, but I shame to wear a heart so white.

guaranteed to evoke a violent reaction from police is to challenge their right to "define the situation." --- David Graeber citing Marc Cooper
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Jun 13th, 2006 at 07:12:59 AM EST
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If you're a constructivist or intuitionist mathematician, ≥ may not exist.

guaranteed to evoke a violent reaction from police is to challenge their right to "define the situation." --- David Graeber citing Marc Cooper
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Jun 13th, 2006 at 07:11:34 AM EST
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I think it's time for our resident applied epistemologist to chime in.

guaranteed to evoke a violent reaction from police is to challenge their right to "define the situation." --- David Graeber citing Marc Cooper
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Jun 13th, 2006 at 07:12:28 AM EST
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(I'm still working on my first cup of coffee so I request permission to Revise and Extend my remarks.)

We're talking Reals, right?

≥ means there exists a number such that the statement to the left stops/halts at a singular and particular quantity.  As in:

x + y ≥ 5 (E1)

Compare with:

x + y > 5    (E2)

in E1 5 is a member of the solution set while in E2 5 is a set descriptor, one may say, a property of the set, and is not a member of the set -- to avoid Russell's Paradox.

by ATinNM on Tue Jun 13th, 2006 at 09:53:27 AM EST
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I call on your epistemological powers of discernment and you swallow "Reals" whole?

Enough of that American coloured water you call coffee: have an espresso, no, due espressi.

guaranteed to evoke a violent reaction from police is to challenge their right to "define the situation." --- David Graeber citing Marc Cooper

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Jun 13th, 2006 at 10:01:53 AM EST
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We could start with the Counting Numbers and work out from there but it's too damn early in (my) morning for that.  

I am drinking fresh ground Guatemala Antigua (Fair Trade) beans, French roasted, made in a French Press pot with water that has come to a full boil and then rested for 10 seconds before being added to the pot.  The brew then steeps to bring out the oils and develope the caramel flavours.  

Unfortunately, our Expresso Machine died.  :-(  So the occasional early AM double-shot is no longer available.  

by ATinNM on Tue Jun 13th, 2006 at 10:23:30 AM EST
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On the reals (and possibly other infinite structures) anyway. I don't think they'd deny it on finite structures for instance.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Tue Jun 13th, 2006 at 07:13:35 AM EST
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Q: How much can you get away with in finitistic math?

A: A heck of a lot, but nonconstructively.

guaranteed to evoke a violent reaction from police is to challenge their right to "define the situation." --- David Graeber citing Marc Cooper

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Jun 13th, 2006 at 07:16:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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