Path: csiph.com!newsfeed.hal-mli.net!feeder3.hal-mli.net!newsfeed.hal-mli.net!feeder1.hal-mli.net!newsfeed.xs4all.nl!newsfeed2.news.xs4all.nl!xs4all!newsgate.cistron.nl!newsgate.news.xs4all.nl!post.news.xs4all.nl!not-for-mail Return-Path: X-Original-To: python-list@python.org Delivered-To: python-list@mail.python.org X-Spam-Status: OK 0.084 X-Spam-Evidence: '*H*': 0.84; '*S*': 0.01; 'received:80.91': 0.09; 'received:80.91.229': 0.09; 'received:gmane.org': 0.09; 'received:list': 0.09; 'shaw': 0.09; 'subject:set': 0.09; 'cease': 0.16; 'dismiss': 0.16; 'finney': 0.16; 'ignoring': 0.16; 'merely': 0.16; 'rather,': 0.16; 'received:80.91.229.3': 0.16; 'received:plane.gmane.org': 0.16; 'roy': 0.16; 'header:User- Agent:1': 0.23; 'header:X-Complaints-To:1': 0.27; 'tried': 0.27; 'convince': 0.31; 'subject:numbers': 0.31; 'writes:': 0.31; 'position.': 0.33; 'subject:the': 0.34; 'subject:with': 0.35; 'received:com.au': 0.36; 'expressed': 0.37; 'ben': 0.38; 'stopped': 0.38; 'to:addr:python-list': 0.38; 'does': 0.39; 'to:addr:python.org': 0.39; 'received:org': 0.40; 'numbers': 0.61; 'entire': 0.61; 'field': 0.63; 'sum': 0.64; 'more': 0.64; 'natural': 0.68; 'smith': 0.68; 'study': 0.69; 'funny': 0.74; 'listening': 0.74; 'attention': 0.75; 'honest': 0.78; 'disagreement': 0.84; 'paradox': 0.84; 'received:125': 0.84; 'serious': 0.97 X-Injected-Via-Gmane: http://gmane.org/ To: python-list@python.org From: Ben Finney Subject: Re: Working with the set of real numbers Date: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 15:37:44 +1100 References: <8e4c1ab1-e65d-483f-ad9d-6933ae2052c3@googlegroups.com> <53153e66$0$24931$e4fe514c@dreader36.news.xs4all.nl> <531688b1$0$25064$e4fe514c@dreader37.news.xs4all.nl> <53169cd9$0$2923$c3e8da3$76491128@news.astraweb.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Gmane-NNTP-Posting-Host: vmx15867.hosting24.com.au X-Public-Key-ID: 0xBD41714B X-Public-Key-Fingerprint: 9CFE 12B0 791A 4267 887F 520C B7AC 2E51 BD41 714B X-Public-Key-URL: http://www.benfinney.id.au/contact/bfinney-gpg.asc X-Post-From: Ben Finney User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/23.4 (gnu/linux) Cancel-Lock: sha1:XW0YaP8fXRHFgbbnHPrY+RA/CpE= X-BeenThere: python-list@python.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.15 Precedence: list List-Id: General discussion list for the Python programming language List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Newsgroups: comp.lang.python Message-ID: Lines: 23 NNTP-Posting-Host: 2001:888:2000:d::a6 X-Trace: 1393994283 news.xs4all.nl 2868 [2001:888:2000:d::a6]:40510 X-Complaints-To: abuse@xs4all.nl Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.python:67800 Roy Smith writes: > I stopped paying attention to mathematicians when they tried to convince > me that the sum of all natural numbers is -1/12. I stopped paying attention to a particular person when they said “I stopped paying attention to an entire field of study because one position expressed by some practicioners was disagreeable to me”. Would you think “I stopped listening to logicians when some of them expressed Zeno's paradox of the impossibility of motion” to be a good justification for ignoring the entire field of logic? Rather, a more honest response is to say why that position is incorrect, and not dismiss the entire field of study merely for a disagreement with that position. -- \ “Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than | `\ it ceases to be serious when people laugh.” —George Bernard Shaw | _o__) | Ben Finney