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From: Peter Freyd <pjf@saul.cis.upenn.edu>
To: categories@mta.ca
Subject: Two categories or 2-categories?
Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2001 09:06:43 -0500 (EST)	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <200112261406.fBQE6hH19209@saul.cis.upenn.edu> (raw)

In the film "A Beautiful Mind," the first indication that John Nash is
regaining his abilities is a conversation with a student ("Galois
extensions are really the same as covering spaces!" exclaims Toby, the
student). The scene ends with Nash and the student bent over some
papers and -- as I heard it -- the student says:

    "Functor...Two...Categories"

(The film's not bad but its relation to Nash's life is tangential. If I
had not absorbed a hint from a review, I think I might have stomped
out in the middle because of the ridiculous portrayal of what
mathematicians do. It turns out that the filmmakers are playing a game
-- very effective with most of the audience -- in sliding between
perceptions: ours and Nash's.)





             reply	other threads:[~2001-12-26 14:06 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 2+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2001-12-26 14:06 Peter Freyd [this message]
2001-12-31  8:55 Max Kelly

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