My grudge, if I have any at all, is not with Chomsky or his politics, but rather with the Myth of Magical Numbers, which has so entrenched itself that even mathematicians have fallen prey to it in one form or another for centuries, if not millennia.
I see your point, but I'm not sure Chomsky was espousing anything magical (as in pseudo-science) by saying the Fibonacci sequence is found in nature and isn't well understood why. Present company excepted, perhaps.
I also try to keep in mind that the term "magical" is often rather amorphously applied.
Some call pseudo-science "magical" due to ignorance.
Some call some science "magical" due to ignorance.
However, some call certain science "magical" not due to ignorance, but as a respectful nod towards the vast complexities involved that we still don't know (and perhaps never will) that surround the complex "nature"[0] of science.
If you haven't already read it, I think this is a pretty interesting take on it (in a sense):
I see your point as well, and it's quite well taken.
On second reading Chomsky's quote doesn't seem as hand-wavy about the Fibonacci Sequence as it initially appeared. It's one of those topics that has such a myriad of falsehoods perpetuated around it, that perhaps I was too primed to see it here.
Some call pseudo-science "magical" due to ignorance.
This was the sense in which I used magical, although you are right. "Magical" can be used to evoke either the vision of pseudo-scientific nonsense or "magical" in the sense of "insufficiently understood, complex, and thus awe-inspiring."
If you haven't already read it, I think this is a pretty interesting take on it (in a sense):
I devoured A New Kind of Science when it was released because I was fascinated by emergent systems and cellular automata at the time, and have read it again about a year ago, and found it didn't hold up as well. Nevertheless excellent book, if a bit bold in its claims.
I haven't seem the follow ups, but thanks for pointing me toward them! I'll be sure to give them a read.
Apologizes if I pushed back a little hard, but rest assured my only grudge here is with misuse of the Golden Spiral, not with Prof. Chomsky and certainly not with you.
Comments
I see your point, but I'm not sure Chomsky was espousing anything magical (as in pseudo-science) by saying the Fibonacci sequence is found in nature and isn't well understood why. Present company excepted, perhaps.
I also try to keep in mind that the term "magical" is often rather amorphously applied.
Some call pseudo-science "magical" due to ignorance.
Some call some science "magical" due to ignorance.
However, some call certain science "magical" not due to ignorance, but as a respectful nod towards the vast complexities involved that we still don't know (and perhaps never will) that surround the complex "nature"[0] of science.
If you haven't already read it, I think this is a pretty interesting take on it (in a sense):
http://www.amazon.com/New-Kind-Science-Stephen-Wolfram/dp/15...
Series of followups 10 years later:
http://blog.stephenwolfram.com/2012/05/its-been-10-years-wha...
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo3R3LBjDek (Love And Rockets - "No New Tale To Tell")
I see your point as well, and it's quite well taken.
On second reading Chomsky's quote doesn't seem as hand-wavy about the Fibonacci Sequence as it initially appeared. It's one of those topics that has such a myriad of falsehoods perpetuated around it, that perhaps I was too primed to see it here.
This was the sense in which I used magical, although you are right. "Magical" can be used to evoke either the vision of pseudo-scientific nonsense or "magical" in the sense of "insufficiently understood, complex, and thus awe-inspiring."
I devoured A New Kind of Science when it was released because I was fascinated by emergent systems and cellular automata at the time, and have read it again about a year ago, and found it didn't hold up as well. Nevertheless excellent book, if a bit bold in its claims.
I haven't seem the follow ups, but thanks for pointing me toward them! I'll be sure to give them a read.
Apologizes if I pushed back a little hard, but rest assured my only grudge here is with misuse of the Golden Spiral, not with Prof. Chomsky and certainly not with you.