Gregory's ServerA mathematician uses first person plural in proofs to suggest to the reader that they are on a journey together. This is not dissimilar to Virgil guiding Dante through the Inferno.
|
1 post total
|
|
1 post total
A mathematician uses first person plural in proofs to suggest to the reader that they are on a journey together. This is not dissimilar to Virgil guiding Dante through the Inferno. |
@ProfKinyon Did you the know of the Poul Anderson Novel 'Operation Chaos' in which the protagonists are led through a literal non-Euclidean version of hell by the spirits of the mathematicians Bolyai and Lobachevsky?
@ProfKinyon
Huh, I always thought of this usage of "we" being akin to how "you" and "they" can be either singular or plural, while I, he, she, it, and thou are strictly singular.
@ProfKinyon What are you saying about my proofs?