Ask Me Anything: Adam

Thats a great way of looking at it. Curious then, where do you draw the line between maths and logic?

I wouldn't. There's a branch of maths called mathematical logic, but maths comes from the philosophical branch of logic. I'm not sure any lines around the labels are helpful.

It's a shame that we seem to teach children that maths is a science. As though Pythagoras's theorem was proved by measuring a load of triangles, rather than the result of reasoned logical steps from a set of axioms.

Sure, maths is effective (unreasonably so) in solving science problems, but music, art, and the written word are useful for advertising. But anyone who thinks that music's purpose is to flog stuff has no soul. Mathematics is no more science than music is advertising.

Fundamentally, the processes of maths and logic are identical. At its core, maths is nothing more than a branch of philosophy - a branch that turned out to be really good at solving things.

I sometimes wonder whether we wouldn't live on a nicer planet if other branches of philosophy had been given the same chance as maths. A world where all children are taught epistemology (the study of truth and knowledge) and ethics alongside maths would be nice, eh?

And you think you'd be a bad mayor.

Great analysis!

Also, teaching epistemology to children would be a nightmatre, albeit hilarious. Could you imagine if Hume invented school...

Adult: "You forgot to do your homework again."

Child: "Are you sure? How do you know I didn't already turn it in?"

Lol. Yeah... maybe I need to think this through. Perhaps ethics before epistemology.

What's one thing the average person could do that would make your job easier?
Which do you prefer; cyborgs, sentient robots, androids, or mecha?
What's your favorite movie based on a toy/toyline?
What's your favorite song about a real person?

Everyone knows maths is not science, it's sorcery!

What is a favorite tradition that may or may not be holiday based?

Easy! Include URLs with their screenshots.
I like the idea of sapient robots. There again, once upon a time, I was naive enough to think the world wide web was a good idea. So I'd like these robots to have an off switch, please.
Scorsese's Casino?
God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols.

When I was a nipper, one of my grandmothers taught me that when Jesus was on the cross there was a spider in the crown of thorns. That spider wove a web over our Lord's wounds to bring Him comfort in that dark hour. Because of this, if you kill a spider it will rain on Friday.

Sure, it's like some weird superstitions were thrown into a Catholic blender and poured into my young ears. But even now, if there's a spider in the house then I will carefully collect it up and put it outside. Unless it's a Friday and it's already raining, because then I will feck that spider up - it broke the deal.

I'd never heard that one before!