Re: Fw: Something for Platonists

From: Stephen Paul King <stephenk1.domain.name.hidden>
Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2003 12:02:15 -0400

Dear Joao,

     Is this the statement of a person that bases their belief in faith or
reason?

Sincerly,

Stephen
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joao Leao" <jleao.domain.name.hidden>
To: "Lennart Nilsson" <leonard.nilsson.domain.name.hidden>
Cc: "Everything List" <everything-list.domain.name.hidden>
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2003 11:18 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: Something for Platonists


> Speaking as a devout Platonist I see nothing much to contemplate
> in Deutsch's statement! Whether the Universe is computable, as
> he states without argument, or the computable subrealm of the
> mathematical world coincides with the physical, which he
> believes for unstated reasons, is of no concern to me or any
> self-respecting Platonist. The Realm of Forms is entirely
> separate from the physical universe which is nothing but
> an inept and corrupt model of it. Our physical theories,
> and Deutsh's speculations are even crappier versions of
> that model which capture nothing but mere glimpses of
> the Platonic World and thus are destined to be surpassed.
>
> Computation may be indeed a fairly acceptable measure
> of our ineptitude to see into Platonia: that is a plausible
> hypothesis. But the fact that we know of the realm of
> the uncomputable and that we can access its truths
> irrespective of our finite computational capabilities
> is an entirely more profound statement than any of
> Deutsch dubious speculations...
>
> -Joao Leao
Received on Mon Jun 16 2003 - 12:05:03 PDT