[MD] Language

[skutvik at online.no]

Hi Ron 

9 Feb. u wrote:

> The so-called Pythagoreans, who were the first to take up mathematics,
> not only advanced this subject, but saturated with it, they fancied
> that the principles of mathematics were the principles of all things.
> -Aristotle , Metaphysics 1-5 , cc. 350 BC

Well, maybe they were right, the inorganic level - AKA the universe - 
could not come to pass without the "principles" that logic represents. 
But this does not detract from the MOQ which simply says that the 
inorganic level is the fundament for the rest of the static hierarchy. 
Logic - principles - may well be part of the inorganic universe, we must 
no fall into intellects' pit of principles being abstract and hence 
necessarily are "intellectual" patterns.   

> Pythagorean theorem
> "The Pythagorean theorem: The sum of the areas of the two squares on
> the legs (a and b) equals the area of the square on the hypotenuse
> (c).Since the fourth century AD, Pythagoras has commonly been given
> credit for discovering the Pythagorean theorem, a theorem in geometry
> that states that in a right-angled triangle the square of the
> hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle), c, is equal to the sum
> of the squares of the other two sides, b and a-that is, a2 + b2 =
> c2. While the theorem that now bears his name was known and previously
> utilized by the Babylonians and Indians, he, or his students, are
> often said to have constructed the first proof. It must, however, be
> stressed that the way in which the Babylonians handled Pythagorean
> numbers, implies that they knew that the principle was generally
> applicable, and knew some kind of proof, which has not yet been found
> in the (still largely unpublished) cuneiform sources."
 
> This is where Bo would say that the distinction between intelligence
> and intellect is the philosophical belief that the principles of
> mathematics are the principles of all things. 

Right, that's exactly what I mean and why objections to the SOL 
interpretations (about non-S/O "intellectual" patterns) are completely 
off. It's plain that people of old could calculate - even by using symbols 
(pebbles or beads on a abacus are symbols all right) and, as the 
article says, the Babylonians and Egyptians knew most geometrical 
contexts, the "Pythagorean" one included. The Intellectual part of it 
occurred when the Greek  designed the names for these disciplines  - 
mathematics, geometry, arithmetics, algebra .. etc. - and also worked 
out theorems to show how these relationships were OBJECTIVELY 
true for all times and circumstances. No Pharaoh or God could 
abolished them.      

Keep thinking 

Bodvar