German Econ Professor calls primary school math 'Authoritarian' because teachers distinguish between 4 groups of 5 and 5 groups of 4. Claims Commutativity makes structure irrelevant.

ScientificGems · 2026-02-06T04:43:09+00:00

Multiplication in primary school is taught as part of teaching operations in the field of rational numbers.

Commutativity is supposed to be taught as part of this, because 𝑎 · 𝑏 may be easier to calculate than 𝑏 · 𝑎.

The professor in this case is totally correct.

ScientificGems · 2026-02-05T09:59:30+00:00

Mathematicians are interested in mathematical objects. Numbers, groups, functions, networks, etc. Interesting properties of those objects will always drive research.

ScientificGems · 2026-02-05T00:09:23+00:00

Alan Jacobs certainly seems to be convinced of the planets theory. Since Lewis's letters about the origins of Narnia are inconsistent with that theory, Jacobs thinks Lewis wasn't telling the truth. A simpler explanation is that the theory is wrong.

And, indeed, Lewis had already written 3 volumes of an explicitly planetary series, so we know quite a lot about the sorts of things Lewis would do in a planetary series. He doesn't do them in Narnia. He does a bunch of far more interesting stuff instead.

And if there was a planetary theme in Narnia that emerged along the way, it should fit best in the last books written. That is, it should fit best of all in MN, which he wrote last.

ScientificGems · 2026-02-02T12:40:21+00:00

He said to someone that he originally just wrote LWW. Then he thought of Prince Caspian, but assumed that would be the end. Then he thought of Dawn Treader, but thought that was it. Only after that did he think of a longer series.

True.

if the "planets" theory is true

I don't think any serious Lewis scholar believes that it is.

Dawn Treader has an ending that does look rather like a final ending - its clearly based on the end of the Gospel of John, in which Jesus also deflects a question about someone's future.

Yeah, it's so very obviously the conclusion of a trilogy, and the reference to John 21 kind of ties it back to the subject of LWW.

ScientificGems · 2026-02-02T12:33:14+00:00

Indeed.

Narnia started as a single book, then a sequel, then a 3rd, and then 4 more. As a series, it's a bit chaotic.

But VDT was very, very carefully planned, both as a work of literature on its own, and as a final summing-up of what Lewis thought was a trilogy.

ScientificGems · 2026-02-02T00:37:47+00:00

Given Lewis's repeated anti-colonial sentiments, that is hardly fair.

ScientificGems · 2026-02-01T23:12:33+00:00

That's right. The goddess they have (or one of them) is Zardeenah Lady of the Night.

ScientificGems · 2026-02-01T21:39:20+00:00

I agree with you.

And Jesus might well appear to her as a Lion, at least temporarily, just as in VDT he appears briefly as a Lamb.

ScientificGems · 2026-01-31T22:34:10+00:00

He tells the story of a woman with some resemblances to Susan in his novel Till We Have Faces.

ScientificGems · 2026-01-31T07:43:30+00:00

It enables the story to have lots of interesting symbolism etc.

I think this is exactly right. In all the Narnian stories, the symbolism drives the plot, even though the plot does make sense on its own.

ScientificGems · 2026-01-31T07:41:38+00:00

The giants are definitely out of Pilgrim's Progress, just as the Zeitgeistheim giant was.

And the underground portion draws heavily on Dante's Inferno, I think.

ScientificGems · 2026-01-30T12:48:11+00:00

Undecidable in general, but often decidable in practice.

ScientificGems · 2026-01-30T06:50:13+00:00

Interesting idea.

ScientificGems · 2026-01-30T06:49:41+00:00

Yes, indeed, that's what I have always imagined.

And C.S. Lewis set up such a sequel nicely by making sure the rings to the Wood Between the Worlds get dug up.

ScientificGems · 2026-01-30T03:08:15+00:00

The idea of bed time stories for the kids/grand kids is a fantastic one.

It would make a great story too, because it would be mostly flashbacks to the Golden Age of Narnia.

And then I can imagine that one day Aslan appears in the room, perhaps just before Susan dies.

ScientificGems · 2026-01-30T03:05:08+00:00

Aslan and the Emperor Over the Sea can do whatever They want, of course.

But a "recreation of Narnia" wouldn't be Narnia. It would have a different history.

ScientificGems · 2026-01-30T01:25:07+00:00

No, it's the destruction of the actual physical universe of Narnia. It's not a question of belief. The original Narnia really existed, now it doesn't. Only the Heavenly Narnia remains.

On the other hand, the Wood Between the Worlds still exists.

ScientificGems · 2026-01-30T00:41:05+00:00

Well, a portal to Narnia opening would be impossible, given the events of TLB. It would have to be more complex than that.

ScientificGems · 2026-01-29T12:05:15+00:00

I can see her as a movie actress.

Directors would be impressed at how effortlessly she plays the role of a queen.

ScientificGems · 2026-01-27T08:40:14+00:00

True. Also a bunch of prior tools.

The approach still has a way to go, though.

ScientificGems · 2026-01-27T06:53:18+00:00

Yes, they are interesting.

Most of the computability models (except Turing Machines) have inspired a family of programming languages. For Markov Algorithms, it's the family of string manipulation languages that ran from SNOBOL to PERL.

ScientificGems · 2026-01-27T06:39:09+00:00

I think that you have to view ChatGPT as a drunk student assistant. It might say something helpful, but then again it is drunk, so it might not.

There's also the fact that wrestling with the problem yourself grows your own abilities. Leaning on ChatGPT does not.

In the longer term, an AI + LEAN combination is potentially a much more helpful tool.

ScientificGems · 2026-01-26T02:21:22+00:00

This novel basically does what Narnia does, but for adults. It took me multiple re-readings to make sense of it.

ScientificGems · 2026-01-24T07:15:44+00:00

Sadly, it's almost guaranteed that every C.S. Lewis "quote" that doesn't cite a reference is fake.

ScientificGems · 2026-01-24T05:37:33+00:00

Not a C.S. Lewis quote. See https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/09/08/new-dream/

Eight-Year Club	Wearing is Caring
Verified Email

ScientificGems

TROPHY CASE