From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Msuck: nntp://news.gmane.io/gmane.science.mathematics.categories/9117 Path: news.gmane.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Steve Vickers Newsgroups: gmane.science.mathematics.categories Subject: Re: Terminology Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2017 08:48:10 +0000 Message-ID: References: <070VBkupz0000S02.1486845771@web02.cms.usa.net> Reply-To: Steve Vickers NNTP-Posting-Host: blaine.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 (1.0) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Trace: blaine.gmane.org 1487084156 22087 195.159.176.226 (14 Feb 2017 14:55:56 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@blaine.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2017 14:55:56 +0000 (UTC) Cc: Jean Benabou , Categories To: "Fred E.J. Linton" Original-X-From: majordomo@mlist.mta.ca Tue Feb 14 15:55:51 2017 Return-path: Envelope-to: gsmc-categories@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from smtp2.mta.ca ([198.164.44.40]) by blaine.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1cdeWB-0005BY-Mt for gsmc-categories@m.gmane.org; Tue, 14 Feb 2017 15:55:47 +0100 Original-Received: from mlist.mta.ca ([138.73.1.63]:43517) by smtp2.mta.ca with esmtp (Exim 4.80) (envelope-from ) id 1cdeVV-0005lv-C1; Tue, 14 Feb 2017 10:55:05 -0400 Original-Received: from majordomo by mlist.mta.ca with local (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1cdeUy-0007wy-I7 for categories-list@mlist.mta.ca; Tue, 14 Feb 2017 10:54:32 -0400 In-Reply-To: <070VBkupz0000S02.1486845771@web02.cms.usa.net> Precedence: bulk Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.science.mathematics.categories:9117 Archived-At: Dear Fred, A good answer, but my point was that it was a bad question. You see this once you start pressing at the details. Are seals and turtles f= ish? No, but on your definition it depends on whether flippers count as legs= or not. What about sea snakes? Obviously not - they're snakes, that just ha= ppen to live in the sea. But then eels do seem a bit more fishy. A meticulous zoologist would start piling on the subclauses to pin it down m= ore precisely, but we know that that does not actually refine our understand= ing of zoology. It just amplifies the misconceptions underlying the original= question. I'm saying the same can happen in mathematics. All the best, Steve. > On 11 Feb 2017, at 20:42, Fred E.J. Linton wrote: >=20 > Steve, et al., >=20 > If you want=20 >=20 >> a definition of "fish", but on the understanding that it has to include > whales >=20 > let me offer: "legless marine vertebrates" :-) . >=20 > Cheers, -- tlvp >=20 [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]