[EM] Usefulness of mathematics

[Anthony Simmons]

From: MIKE OSSIPOFF <nkklrp at hotmail.com>
Subject: [EM] Usefulness of mathematics

>> Anthony said:

>> You're not telling me that people routinely object to any
>> post not explicitly justified by direct reference to concerns
>> actually stated by large numbers of voters, are you?

>> I reply:

>> I don't know, did I tell you that?

>> No, I didn't object to postings whose arguments were
>> irrelevant to public concerns.

>> Are you telling me that people think that any post that
>> points out the irrelevance of an argument is objecting to
>> the post that contains the argument?

Fortunately, I don't need to decode this because I wasn't
talking about semantic problems.  I was talking abou this:

  >> You seem to regard this as some sort of mathematical
  >> game or art form that should be above such mundane
  >> considerations as the concerns of voters and the
  >> political and material consequences of the voting
  >> system.

And I replied that whether it is mathematical has nothing to
do with whether it is mundane or above the concerns of voters
or pertinent to political considerations.  Which is clearly
correct.