Subject: Re: religion From: Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.no> Date: 05 Sep 2002 03:57:58 +0000 Newsgroups: comp.lang.scheme,comp.lang.lisp Message-ID: <3240187078453645@naggum.no> * Perry E. Metzger | When I asked one of the high cognoscs about the absence of an i/o | multiplexing primitive in his dialect because I needed one for doing some | event driven programming, I was regaled with why event driven programming is | stupid and ugly and I should be using threads instead. I've had a dozen | such experiences of late. And this is an argument for what, precisely? Like, /whose/ arrogance? | I think calling anyone an "arrogant little snot" tends to lessen the power | of one's claim to humility, don't you? No, of course not. I am humble in the face of the field of mathematics, in awe of the great number of geniuses before me, greatly inspired by the works of many brilliant minds that could both conceive of the most elegant concepts and their intricate interrelationships and formulate them so cleanly and briefly in books that I could read and grasp their ideas in but a minute fraction of the time it took them to develop them, and yet I am disgusted to the deepness of my soul by the lack of even the most basic arithmetical skills and the rampant innumeracy of many journalists and politicians, because those are people who are so unequivocally /not/ humble in the face of mathematics, lacking any and all appreciation of the field, yet have the gall to abuse simple results in the field in a way that shows an utter disrespect for all the great minds that made it possible for them to have a chance to grasp mathematical ideas in their compulsory education, but discarded that chance and instead spit in the face of every mathematical thinker with their every breath. | Ah, that explains it. Thank you for enlightening me. You're welcome. I note that the intelligent /exchange/ of ideas has ceased. -- Erik Naggum, Oslo, Norway Act from reason, and failure makes you rethink and study harder. Act from faith, and failure makes you blame someone and push harder.