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Sat 4 Sep, 2004 11:12 am
As I remember the Mock Turtle told Alice that there were four branches to arithmetic:
Ambition
Distraction
Uglification
and
Division
Who would have known that the Mild Mannered Mathematics Scholar had such a prophetic soul?
I'm sad to report that I did really well in Distraction.
Math class was such a chore and day dreaming was a ciriculum where I excelled.
Do you think that he was perhaps speaking of politics instead of mathmatics?
boomerang--
You voice my secret fear. Of course, Alice is like the Bible--the devil can cite scripture for his own purposes.
As I remember, Victorian politics could be pretty nasty. Dickens documented some very unseemly goings on.
Alas, your Velveteen thread has exhausted the present supply of A2K literary nostalgia--but what a great thread it is.
Hold your dominion.
Ah, I excelled in reeling and writhing, myself...
boomerang wrote:Do you think that he was perhaps speaking of politics instead of mathmatics?
I always assumed he was speaking of society itself, since he was a man longing to wear rose colored glasses and be in a better world... but perhaps he did mean it to be directed at politics...
Where is the Red Queen when we need her?
Not long ago, on an a2k discussion, Thomas coined the phrase "faith based arithmetic." Maybe he's been reading Alice.
I need to reread Alice, I suppose. I don't happen to remember this passage.
Roger--
http://www.cs.indiana.edu/metastuff/wonder/ch9.html Chapter 9.
The Gutenberg Project is a wonderful thing.
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