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by Tainnor 793 days ago
It was the same thing in mathematics. For example, when Edmund Landau defined pi as "twice the value of the unique zero of cos in the interval [0, 2]" (a very common definition) instead of geometrically, this was attacked as being "un-German" (even though you can obviously go from the geometric to the analytic definition and vice versa).

https://institucional.us.es/blogimus/en/2017/03/pi-and-the-n...
3 comments
radu_floricica 793 days ago
The disease is independent of context. It's about taking a political club and using it to hit anybody you don't like. And we're far from being immune to it even now.

The correct reaction is to identify people using this particular pattern and penalize them regardless of political or cultural affiliation. Especially if they're in your own tribe - you're the one in the best position to censure them.

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rightbyte 793 days ago
> The correct reaction is to identify people using this particular pattern and penalize them regardless of political or cultural affiliation.

Ohh no. The correct reaction is to do nothing if censorship is on the table. It is trivial to push BS by blaming fighting BS.

I believe the correct action is to pretend they are sane and calmly explain why I think they are wrong in combination with ignoring them.

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perihelions 793 days ago
Here's a remarkable quote: "The Cauchy-Goursat theorem arouses intolerable displeasure in us Germans".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Bieberbach

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/hit... ("How German Mathematicians Dealt With the Rise of Nazism" (1967 / 2016))

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soperj 793 days ago
Haven't multiple states done the same thing? (trying to redefine pi)
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Tainnor 793 days ago
Not the same thing. Twice the unique zero of cos in [0, 2] is provably equal to the circumference of a circle of diameter 1. It's not equal to 3.2 or whatever the Indiana Pi Bill was trying to legislate.
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vundercind 793 days ago
Multiple? No.

Indiana, in 1897, tried, but the bill failed (after notable early success!).

https://www.straightdope.com/21341975/did-a-state-legislatur...

(Other sources seem to agree)

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