Re: Barbarians vs All Blacks 1973

On Sat, 10 Dec 2005 18:23:13 GMT, Martyn Winters
<ziggy.stardust@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Walter Mitty wrote:
>> On 2005-12-10, Martyn Winters <ziggy.stardust@xxxxxxxxxxxx> dropped the ball when he ventured :
>>
>>>Doing equations are just a matter of training and mindset. It is just as
>>>valid to ask when a mathematician last created a great work of fiction?
>>>
>>
>>
>> Oh twaddle. Thats like saying "anyone could be that good if they
>> practice hard enough. Most people can do basic equations but certainly
>> not more complicatedones : never mind formulating new theories
>> represented by said equations. Anyone can "understand" or "solve"
>> e=mc**2 but the genius was in the development of the equation.
>
>Similarly, anyone can write; "the cat sat on the mat", or they can
>understand and copy something like Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", but the
>genius was in writing it in the first place. QED.
>
>You are completely missing my point here, Mitty, as it seems is everyone
>else. My contention is simple: Mathematicians are generally held in
>greater esteem than Artists (the capitalisation is deliberate), and are
>also more readily given the accolade "genius" because they do squiggly
>things with equations, which are little understood by the general
>populace. This, I contend, is not only unfair, but inaccurate, because
>creating a work of fiction CAN be every bit a matter of genius as
>developing the framework of General Relativity. From this I draw a
>number of other conclusions that are incidental.
>
>What I am not saying is: Artists=Good. Scientists=Bad.
>Neither am I saying: Artists>Scientists (sic).
>
>Capisce?

I think where you lost the plot was when you defended Damian Hurst.
Nobody is denying the genius of da Vinci, or Picasso, or Michelangelo,
or Monet, but conceptual artists like Hurst and Emin are artists,
alright, but they're bull*** artists. Their talent isn't their
"installations", their talent is their ability to sucker idiots like
the Turner committee into praising their tiresome schlock. They're
self promoting PR artists more than anything. As for mathematicians
getting all the creds, do they? How many people can name the great
mathematicians, let alone hold them in high regard or call them
geniuses? I think what you are saying says more about yourself than
other people, and in some ways it seems you're playing devil's
advocate, i.e. YOU hold mathematicians etc. in higher regard.

--
greig
.