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Re: Completing the Revolution
by Scott Bakker on Tuesday March 11, @09:33AM
Hi Karl. A couple of clarifications. You say that I " can continue to believe in the transcendent Platonic realm if [I] really want to..." I'm not sure where you get this, since I say quite clearly that I'm not a mathematical Platonist. I'm an agnostic who thinks cognitive science has nowhere near the resources it needs to definitively answer such an issue. Explaining mathematics with metaphor is simply explaining one mystery in terms of another. Interesting perspectives might be generated, but certainly nothing like a definitive answer. You say I "should not treat a science with contempt simply because its subject matter is too messy or squishy to be codified using mathematics..." I never said anything regarding 'codification in mathematics,' so I'm not sure what you mean. As far as regarding cognitive science with contempt, nothing further could be the case! I simply think that it's provisional status needs to be recalled, particularly when it's used to explain semantic phenomena such as mathematics, metaphor, and so on. To say a science is provisional is to say that it's just getting off the ground - which it clearly is. Nothing contemptible about that! Rather, it's admirable, much as alchemy is admirable.
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