"I'll be Bach."
Posted on 10/24/2013 5:12:05 PM PDT by Alex Murphy
"I'll be Bach."
Oh good, I was wondering where you wuz Haydn!
Yes, Herr Gödel is the world's most incredible mind.
However, I SERIOUSLY doubt that I would understand one word in 1,000,000,000,000 that he spoke. I am SERIOUSLY average and would feel like a piece of wood being even near his bailiwick. A (wo)man has GOT to know his/her limitations. (Dirty Harry)
Thanks anyway.
Rhetorical, PUL-EEZ!
And yet another hour lecture, but easer to stay awake throughout;
It’s an important distinction between what people can and cannot do.
People can observe and describe, subjectively, like the story of the blind men trying to describe an elephant, each touching parts of the elephant and reaching very different conclusions about it.
People can also subdivide things into their component parts, but if those things are dynamic: alive or changing, then when they are reassembled they are not the same as the original thing. Take apart a person then reassemble them, and they are no longer a person. They are a dead person. Frankenstein’s monster only came alive with science fiction magic, as it were.
People can also combine things into a greater whole, at least in their imaginations. If one violinist is a maestro, then an orchestra of one hundred novice violinists will, as a group, be even more expert.
And then, people can create any number of abstracts that describe things. But even back in caveman days, people confuse the abstract with the reality. Often this is done with the mood of “sympathetic magic”, that is, if a picture is made of stick figure hunters shown killing an elk with spears, it will somehow *cause* their hunting of elk to be a success.
As poet Joyce Kilmer noted:
“Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.”
.
Which is why Goedel and Einstein were close chums. They went on walks talking about this kind of stuff as casually as you and I might talk football.
On December 5, 1947, Einstein and Morgenstern accompanied Gödel to his U.S. citizenship exam, where they acted as witnesses. Gödel had confided in them that he had discovered an inconsistency in the U.S. Constitution, one that would allow the U.S. to become a dictatorship. Einstein and Morgenstern were concerned that their friend's unpredictable behavior might jeopardize his chances. Fortunately, the judge turned out to be Phillip Forman. Forman knew Einstein and had administered the oath at Einstein's own citizenship hearing. Everything went smoothly until Forman happened to ask Gödel if he thought a dictatorship like the Nazi regime could happen in the U.S. Gödel then started to explain his discovery to Forman. Forman understood what was going on, cut Gödel off, and moved the hearing on to other questions and a routine conclusion.
!!!
Doesn’t take anyone with the brains of a Goedel to figure that out.
OH MY, that is VERY good!!! :o)
Sorry about the other one hour lecture link...but although it could be a bit difficult to follow, the lecturer was much more engaging than at that other link, and near the end provided some insight as to how some of Bach's compositions could interface or be made to link (if just in the imagination, and by some example of principle) with the questions and discussion as to philosophy of math, which is why I sent those.
I do apologize for not having provided better explanation for the links.
I made the (possible) mistake of listening to some Stevie Ray Von a short time back... Talk about an ear worm. I've been hearing passages of his treatment of Hendix's Little Wing going through my mind for days. Part of it is that like many people, I am well enough acquainted with the original to be able to hear the departures, with those being like much like some jazz, while staying within R&B/Rock, blending those genres.
It's all a matter of taste and taste is taught, usually.
I don't doubt that in 1000 years from now, classical will still be around. I don't know about jazz. Jazz enthusiasts are positive that it will be; I'm not so sure.
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