Kirby says: >Multiplying two matrices, multiplying two complex numbers, multiplying two integers.... these have similarities but they're not all pointing to some abstract Platonic "idea of multiplication" that's is the essence of all three. Or at least I see no need for such overhead fantasies.
What is it leads people to expect and believe in more than just family resemblance? (I'm agreeing with Kirby by the way.) My earliest posts on this topic stress that the word is "overloaded" (to use some programming jargon.)
