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Re: Question on Matrix Representations as Linear Transformations
Posted:
Apr 25, 2005 9:02 PM
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On Mon, 25 Apr 2005 20:15:59 -0400, Stan Brown
<the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:
>Neither. I was objecting to your use of "often". Had you said
>"occasionally" or "rarely" you'd have been correct.
You really need to hear the skit [below] by the comedy group "Beyond
the Fringe" on a supposed discussion between Bertrand Russel and G.E.
Moore to appreciate what you just said. "Often" does not imply "a
majority of the time". Believe me, it is often.
****************
'Bertrand Russell: One of the advantages of living in Great Court,
Trinity, I seem to recall, was the fact that one could pop across at
any time of the day or night and trap the then young G.E. Moore into a
logical falsehood by means of a cunning semantic subterfuge. I recall
one occasion with particular vividness. I had popped across and had
knocked upon his door. Come in, he said. I decided to wait awhile in
order to test the validity of his proposition. Come in, he said once
again. Very well, I replied, if that is in fact truly what you
wish.
I opened the door accordingly and went in, and there was Moore seated
by the fire with a basket upon his knees. Moore, I said, do you
have any apples in that basket? No, he replied, and smiled
seraphically, as was his wont. I decided to try a different logical
tack. Moore, I said, do you then have some apples in that basket?
No, he replied, leaving me in a logical cleft stick from which I had
but one way out. Moore, I said, do you then have apples in that
basket? Yes, he replied. And from that day forth, we remained the
very closest of friends.'
Jonathan Miller [St John's], 'Portrait from Memory', on the LP Beyond
the Fringe (1962)
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