From: Kevin Smith <kevinbsmith@...>
Date: 2001-09-22T10:18:50+09:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:21514] Re: SV:  Re: Ruby/objects book in style of The Little Lisper

--- Todd Gillespie <toddg@mail.ma.utexas.edu> wrote:
>    "Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully
> human.  At best
>     he is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear
> shoes, bathe and
>     not make messes in the house."
>                 -- Lazarus Long, "Time Enough for Love"

Well, I'm glad to see we're keeping this civil. Do I get to
remain human, since I passed my college calculus courses?

> wildly improper for you to speak for broad swaths of
> users who may not have your same biases regarding 
> mathematics.  

I would guess that less than 20% of the general population
would agree to the statement "I really like math". Perhaps
things are different where you live.

Again, it depends on the TARGET AUDIENCE. If you're
targeting programmers, then yes, you'll find a large number
of people who understand math, and enjoy it. If you're
targeting people who have not yet learned any programming
language, you'll find a large number of people who would
prefer to avoid advanced math (e.g. algebra and above).

> Your counterexample fields are quite incorrect as well. 
> Logic is all about set theory, and sociology and 
> psychology are heavily dependent upon statistics.

I guess we use different definitions of those terms, then.

Ok, I think this thread deserves to die now. Obviously we
have widely different opinions on a number of topics. I'll
leave it up to the author of the book to choose his
audience, and write accordingly.

Kevin

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com