Mathematics

Continuity is a key conception in the history of ideas
in many fields. A form of continuity, under one name
or another, is frequently attributed to processes or
developments in mathematics, science, philosophy,
history, and theology.

Mathematics: the language of God transliterated into hieroglyphs by dyslexic chimpanzees. One knows it means something terribly important, but even when one has the key to understanding one is led astray by errors in transcription.

I used to hate maths at school, yet later I started to like it. It happened to stand out of the merged nonsense the other subjekts became, pulpified by chippy curriculars and unmotivated teachers.
It became interesting when some year I had a teacher
who was pretty new in his job, he wasn't yet worn out and emotionaly blunted by a lifetime of frustrating repetitions a teacher's career consists of. He managed to make me feel math, to make me feel what great insights lie in it.

Computer Scientists have a lot of respect for mathematics. In my experience, people who enjoy advanced CS also enjoy solving math problems, particularly proofs. However, Mathematicians have no respect whatsoever for Computer Science.

One teaches scientists about music easiest with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, because of its mathematical perfection.

»something's going on. it has to do with that number. there's an answer in that number.«

»11:15, restate my assumptions: 1. mathematics is the language of nature. 2. everything around us can be represented and understood through numbers. 3. if you graph these numbers, patterns emerge. therefore: there are patterns everywhere in nature.«

»personal note: when i was little my mother told me not to stare into the sun, so when i was six i did.«

-- PI