Re: [asa] Of motes and beams

On 7/18/06, Alexanian, Moorad <alexanian@uncw.edu> wrote:
>
> I am not sure I understand. When a human encounters a new mathematical
> problem and is able to develop a solution to it with the prior information
> he/she has about mathematics, can we say that the individual evolved or just
> that the human brain has the ability to "figure out" new situations with
> already existing elements?

I wouldn't say that the solving of a mathematical problem, a sequence of
logical steps based on some informed guesses, bears any resemblance to the
evolutionary processes by which the immune system works. Unless you solve
mathematical problems as in a cartoon I once saw depicting Einstein's
blackboard, which had three lines on it: E = ma^2 (crossed out) E = mb^2
(crossed out) E = mc^2 (tick). No-one solves maths problems like that so
to bring it up is an irrelevancy.

Iain

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Received on Tue Jul 18 03:44:49 2006