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Real Numbers?

2026-02-12 · 222 words

I had two assignments due today, and working on those consumed most of my time, so unfortunately today’s post will be rather short.

One iconic quote from a classmate in my mathematics/philosophy class today (24.118):

“So… mathematics is the art of making stuff up, and then justifying it with made up notation?”

(TIL: There’s a whole branch of philosophy dedicated to determine whether numbers and symbols exist, and the extent to which you can derive meaning from manipulating them.)

I also read a lot today, specifically about the history of legislation surrounding 47 U.S.C. §223 and §230. I also ran into this EFF Effector from 1995, which provides some context/commentary, along with this funny essay about flags.

“But our culture is in truly bad shape if we have come to define respecting something as the failure to set it on fire.”

Well, tomorrow I should have some more time. In lieu of a full post today, here’s a fun math-related post. Are types a property of terms, or just annotations?