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/lit/ - Literature

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16299525 No.16299525 [Reply] [Original]

>Euler remained a Christian all of his life and often read to his family from the Bible. One story about his religion during his stay in Russia involved the atheistic philosopher Diderot. Diderot had been invited to the court by Catherine the Great, but then annoyed her by trying to convert everyone to atheism. Catherine asked Euler for help, and he informed Diderot, who was ignorant of mathematics, that he would present in court an algebraic proof of the existence of God, if Diderot wanted to hear it. Diderot was interested, and, according to De Morgan, Euler advanced toward Diderot, and said gravely, and in a tone of perfect conviction: “Sir, (a + bn) / n = x , hence God exists; reply! ” Diderot had no reply, and the court broke into laughter. Diderot immediately returned to France.
kek

>> No.16299540

this sounds like it never happened

>> No.16299569

>>16299525
What is the joke? Something about Airbnb I guess

>> No.16299587

>>16299525
>Euler advanced toward Diderot, and said gravely, and in a tone of perfect conviction: “Sir, (a + bn) / n = x , hence God exists; reply! ”
this is literally just a shitpost lmao

>> No.16299603

>>16299525
Utterly based.

>> No.16299616

>>16299569
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewbacca_defense

>> No.16299642

>>16299540
It sort of happened but not as OP has it. They scheduled a debate for later and Diderot never showed up because he knew he couldn't win. But stuff like this was normal at the time: it could and sort of was a scene in the movie Ridicule.

>> No.16299664

>>16299642
"Mathematical duels" were common in the Renaissance as well.

https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691183671/the-secret-formula

>> No.16299684

>>16299525
I guess the French were never really good at winning huh

>> No.16299779

>>16299525
How do you amerifags pronounce Euler?
I bet Youler. You losers!

>> No.16299797

>>16299779
ewwwwwler

>> No.16299809

>>16299779
oiler

>> No.16299811

>>16299797
Disgusting.
That's correct: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/De-Euler.ogg

>> No.16299828

>>16299811
Do you think you're clever for knowing something that literally every middle school math teacher knows?

>> No.16299830

>>16299779
ooh-la-la

>> No.16299835

>>16299811
i know, i speak german, i just thought it was funny

>> No.16299849

>>16299828
I just think mutts are stupid drones

>> No.16299873

>>16299849
And knowing how to pronounce a Swiss name is the pinnacle of knowledge, right? Again, I had at least three public school teachers in America who told us how to pronounce the name as if it's some profound insight. It's not. And you're not clever for bringing it up.

>> No.16299876

>>16299873
why are americans so insecure and stupid and fat

>> No.16299878

>>16299876
Who's the one acting insecure here?

>> No.16299884

>>16299873
Even if you knew how to pronounce Swiss names you would be a stupid drone, it's not just one factor.

>> No.16299901

>>16299779
Ay-you-leer

>> No.16299907

>>16299525
Total bullshit. You left out the last line:

>However amusing the anecdote may be, it is apocryphal, given that Diderot himself did research in mathematics.

>> No.16299920

>>16299907
>assumes anyone was even close in Mathematics to Euler
ay lmao

>> No.16299935

>>16299920
How so?

>> No.16299962

>>16299935
Because it doesn't matter if Diderot did research, he was a child compared to Euler. Even the Bernoulli's accepted that fact.

>> No.16299995

>>16299962
You're not making any sense.

>> No.16300005

>>16299995
Oh I forgot that I'm talking to a anglo brainlet. I will adapt my language so you will understand it.
Ohh gaga boo-boo mimiimi hoola-hoola. Bloobloobblob gaga goo-goo

>> No.16300023

>>16299920
It blew my mind when I learned that the general order of mathematical study now taken for granted is pretty new. A lot of famous people never got into algebra. The ancient Greeks got into geometry as a kind of party game and the basis of Zeno's Paradox is that they expected that very big and very small numbers probably worked differently than familiar numbers.

>> No.16300028

>>16300005
Since you're obviously an egregious moron, let's rewind. You do know that the expression "(a + bn) / n = x" has nothing to do with the existence of gods, right? Do you even understand what the joke is?

>> No.16300031

>>16299995
Consider a guy who has read some articles in Prevention and WebMD talking to an experienced old school diagnostician about medicine.

>> No.16300045

>>16300031
>t. brainlet who thinks "(a + bn) / n = x" literally establishes the existence of god

>> No.16300074

>>16300028
You're stupid. How can you know it's not a proof if you don't know what the variables mean? It could be a proof and Euler could make something up on the spot and Diderot wouldn't even be able to follow.

>> No.16300095

>>16299525
I would walk out too after someone saying something retarded like that and the mob lapping it up.

>> No.16300096

>>16300074
>t. has never take a logic or proof-based math class

>> No.16300109

EULED

>> No.16300117

>>16300096
You're still an idiot. It doesn't matter how you argue, Euler would fucking destroy you in front of all the people. It's inevitable that the debate would go to a point where you couldn't say anything against it anymore. So it's better to shut the fuck up and know your place.

>> No.16300134

>>16300045
The real point is that you do not understand how it doesn't.

>> No.16300146

>>16299811
Fucking pseud, he probably pronounced his name the French way because it was the lingua franca spoken at court

>> No.16300172

>>16300146
Proof it, baguetteface

>> No.16300173

>>16300117
>>16300134
Imagine being this retarded. You shouldn't be posting in this thread given that you don't even get the joke.

>> No.16300217

>>16300173
You're the only retarded here for thinking you could argue against Euler in regards to Mathematics in a live debate. Centuries before and after Euler, nobody came even close to him. Maybe Gauß kind of, but that's about it.
Why do you think you would win a debate against him? Because you visited a proof-based math class? Wtf.
This guy was a maniac. When he was blind later in his life and he couldn't make his calculations on the paper anymore, he did most of it in his had. He had such a good visualization and memory that he could see everything on front of his eyes.
He would eat you alive faggot and everyone would be convinced that God exists.

>> No.16300244

>>16300217
>argue against Euler in regards to Mathematics in a live debate
It wasn't a mathematics debate, you fucking mongoloid.

>> No.16300259

>>16300244
Read the OP, stupid. He tried to start it but Diderot was smart enough to not take the bait.

>> No.16300277

>>16299907
>>16299920
You're both fucking retarded.

>> No.16300282

>>16299525
And yet in 2020 there's barely a single mathematician alive that still believes in God.

Diderot wins!

>> No.16300286

>>16300277
Your mother is retarded, asshole

>> No.16300297

>>16300282
Real mathematicans believe in God. Only the onions WOW SCIENCE nu-mathematicans don't.

>> No.16300301

>>16300282
has less to do with mathematical ability than modern culture. Gödel was a genius and Christian

>> No.16300307

>>16300286
Fuck you, asshole

>> No.16300318

>>16299935
Euler is considered one of the greatest contributors to the field.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contributions_of_Leonhard_Euler_to_mathematics

>> No.16300324
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16300324

There are many studies science can't make because they are too taboo in the current culture. I'm sure everyone in this board has some ideas for such studies.
One that will never be allowed to happen is: To demonstrate that religious experiences (seeing/hearing god) are just varying levels of schizophrenia. Religion is literally the only form of hallucination that is currently not treated as a psychological issue.

>> No.16300335

>>16300324
>To demonstrate that religious experiences (seeing/hearing god) are just varying levels of schizophrenia.
I don't think you understand how Schizophrenia works.

>> No.16300347

>>16300318
Are you literally retarded?

>> No.16300349

So no one’s going to explain how this (a + bn) / n = x proves anything?

Typical schizophrenia cases. Science proves you wrong everyday and you declare it the devil’s work. Some old math guy says (a + bn) / n = x probes something it doesn’t and you take on faith that it does.

Not very lit related thread

>> No.16300350

>>16300324
How is that taboo, this is God delusion tier and was all over media for over a decade

>> No.16300357

>>16300259
Imagine being this retarded.

>> No.16300358
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16300358

>>16300335
Plainly you do not either

>> No.16300360

>>16300074
bait

>> No.16300366

>>16300335
>Delusions.
I mean...
>Hallucinations.
I mean......
>Disorganized thinking (speech).
"Speaking in tongues"

No no, I think we're exactly there actually.

>> No.16300373

>>16300350
If you had a single well built experiment published in a journal like Nature demonstrating schizophrenia treatments cures "religion" out of people, the entire world would change in ways you can't begin to imagine.

>> No.16300382

>>16300297
>>16300301
>C O P E

>> No.16300383

>>16300349
>(a + bn) / n = x
It's mathematical gibberish meant to mystify the uneducated, and supposedly threw Diderot off in the apocryphal story. It never happened, of course. Diderot himself was a mathematician.

>> No.16300397

>>16300373
No it wouldn't. Religion in regards to God doesn't even matter anymore. The modern religion is humanism and morality and it exists without a God, so nothing would change.

>> No.16300403

>>16300383
Ha!

>> No.16300405

>>16300358
Shut the fuck up you stupid fucking whore, stay out of my conversations with your retarded blabber and le epic images you raw cunt. Funnily enough you've already shown us you're a fucking braindead mental retard here >>16300349 by not realizing that what Euler supposedly said didn't mean anything at all and was a play on how Diderot was foolish enough to not know how to respond.
>>16300366
>delusions
Can be anything other than schizophrenia
>hallucinations
doesn't have to be schizophrenia; could also be hallucinatory depression, shrooms, DMT, etc.
>Speaking in tongues
Not sure what you're referring to with all of these, but I don't see why this wouldn't literally refer to someone speaking another language.

>> No.16300406

>>16300358
belief in UFO's is totally rational

>> No.16300414

>>16300406
based, imagine being a Stanford neurologist and not knowing what UFO stands for.

>> No.16300433

>>16300358
>ghosts
Not plausible. Much more likely spirits instead of the souls of dead people.
>telepathy
Look into parapsychological studies.
>UFOs
Is this a joke? How do you even plausibly deny their existence?
>Devil
Take a look at the modern state of things and tell me with a straight face the devil doesn't have an active role in it.

>> No.16300434

Lets just say Euler won the battle, but Diderot won the war

>> No.16300452

>>16300433
>Take a look at the modern state of things and tell me with a straight face the devil doesn't have an active role in it.
Are you an antisemite???

>> No.16300470

>>16300405
I'm not sure you understand how differential diagnosis works. Are you claiming everyone who says they hear and see Jesus are coincidentally using shrooms secretly?
>>16300433
>Much more likely spirits instead of the souls of dead people.
Same thing.
>Look into parapsychological studies.
I did. They never find anything under controlled scenarios. Look into Randi's challenge.
>Is this a joke? How do you even plausibly deny their existence?
You religious schizos are the worst. Normal functioning human brains use evidence of things before claiming they exist. All the "evidence" of UFOs coincidentally comes from american schizo lunatics that coincidentally see aliens of the same color and shape as the latest alien movie of that year.
>Take a look at the modern state of things and tell me with a straight face the devil doesn't have an active role in it.
I am looking straight in your face and telling you that it's easier for me to believe in shitty human beings than it is to believe in all powerful fallen angels that god doesn't smite down because of some vague "free will" shit argument. (Humans could have free will without the devil existing, and angels are not supposed to have free will, so the devil is literally a programmed bot by god if we go down that line).

TAKE YOUR MEDS

>> No.16300472

>>16300433
>Take a look at the modern state of things and tell me with a straight face the devil doesn't have an active role in it.
Implying we aren't in the best point in human history

>> No.16300482

>Religious person uses underhanded mental juggling paired with the fact he is friends with the king to drive rational questioning away.
Am I supposed to think Euler won something?

>> No.16300492

>>16300482
Diderot was annoying everyone. Euler did a jest and made a goof out of Diderot.

>> No.16300503

>>16300470
I don't think you know how history works. Are you claiming that absolutely no religious ideas could have possibly, even with the smallest chance, been the result of hallucinatory drugs? Are you claiming the only possibility is schizophrenia?

>> No.16300518

>>16300470
>>16300503
Oh, and
>All the "evidence" of UFOs coincidentally comes from american schizo lunatics that coincidentally see aliens of the same color and shape as the latest alien movie of that year.
Do you not know what a UFO is, you fucking idiot?

>> No.16300522

>>16300405
>le epin mathman mansplains in calm rational manner.
Turd burglar

>>16300406
Belief in greys are not.

>> No.16300523

>>16300492
In your dreams, perhaps. Not in reality.

>> No.16300533

So is anyone here going to explain how a+bn/n = x proves gods existence or are we gonna hide behind Eulers authority?

Is it some theorom that was recently discovered and Eulers saying only god could've made something so wonderful?

Or is Euler just calling Diderot a brainlet by quoting maths he doesn't understand?

>> No.16300551

>>16300518
>Do you not know what a UFO is, you fucking idiot?
You're playing dumb here. You think when you ask someone "Do you believe in UFOs" the meaning conveyed is "Do you believe some people see weird objects in the sky sometimes?", or do you think it means "Do you believe there are objects from outer space that come to earth?".
By your same literal reductionist reasoning someone that sees some helicopter lights in a cloudy day and can't identify it's a helicopter is seeing a UFO from their perspective. I believe this can happen. I still wouldn't say "I believe in UFOs" in an interview that asks about ghosts and spirits on the other questions because the implications are obvious, you fucking moron.

>> No.16300553

>>16300533
Last choice
Why is it that so much of /lit/ is this clueless?

>> No.16300559

>>16300533
>So is anyone here going to explain how a+bn/n = x proves gods existence
Are you kidding? The equation is literally nonsense. That's the joke.

>> No.16300569

>>16300533
Is this the famous high IQ of this board?

>> No.16300576

>>16300553
>Last choice
Wrong.

>Why is it that so much of /lit/ is this clueless?
Ask yourself that question. You're almost as retarded as the poster you replied to.

>> No.16300577

>>16300569
They left long ago

>> No.16300579

>>16300533
it's a divine decree. the content doesn't matter but the utterance does. there's a reason the anecdote mentions the manner in which he said it. there's no doubt about, Euler felt God in him. and everyone in the room felt it as well. that's as best as argument as you'll ever get.

>> No.16300598

>>16300579
I've always refused to believe posts like this ^ could possibly be meant sincerely. But after that probability thread a few days ago, no amount of retardation on /lit/ surprises me anymore.

>> No.16300612

>>16300598
I said that the content of the mathematical equation doesn't matter. It's meaningless; look it up.

>> No.16300628

>>16300551
>You're playing dumb here.
No, I'm not playing dumb here. If you're a Stanford neurologist making sweeping claims about the statistics of how many people believe in certain "irrational" things, and how this indicates some inherent flaw in our political system due to the fact that these people vote, without even providing some justification for the in between there, you should be precise enough to indicate that you're talking about otherworldly UFO's and not using a colloquialism. Much more intelligent people than this nobody believe in God and other "irrational" things.
>By your same literal reductionist reasoning someone that sees some helicopter lights in a cloudy day and can't identify it's a helicopter is seeing a UFO from their perspective.
Yes.
>I still wouldn't say "I believe in UFOs" in an interview that asks about ghosts and spirits on the other questions because the implications are obvious, you fucking moron.
I still wouldn't use colloquialisms in an interview that I use to imply massive claims about how it's erroneous that such people are allowed to vote and serve or juries in our political system or operate motor vehicles, you fucking moron. I also wouldn't use such colloquialisms while making the massive claim that we live in an "irrational" civilization.
>>16300576
Except it's not wrong. Euler (in the supposed situation) was making fun of Diderdot by mogging him with a senseless equation that Euler knew Diderdot wouldn't understand or know how to reply to. If you think there's some other explanation then you're a retard.

>> No.16300646

>>16300628
>Euler (in the supposed situation) was making fun of Diderdot by mogging him with a senseless equation that Euler knew Diderdot wouldn't understand or know how to reply to.
That's not what you quoted.

>> No.16300666
File: 51 KB, 500x531, i-am-fine-wojak-feels-guy-know-50724067.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
16300666

>>16299525
>decide to use Euler's proof on my older sister who's a staunch atheist (microbiologist major) and always disparaging our parents' Catholicism
>recite it word for word, even with the spergy 'reply!'
>she just laughs and says "anon that's gobbledygook! why are you pretending you understand math now?"
>asks me if I can even explain the formula
>I can't of course
>she leaves laughing in her stupid fucking e-thot biking shorts that show off her bubbly ass to whole fucking world
i hate you autists so much. why do i keep thinking anything you people post here will work irl?
first that incident at the Fourth of July with startig with the Greeks and now this. my whole family thinks I'm a sperg thanks to your memes.

>> No.16300679

>>16300646
Yes it is what I quoted. "Or is Euler just calling Diderot a brainlet by quoting maths he doesn't understand?"
This is exactly what Euler is doing. He is quoting an equation that he knew Diderot wouldn't understand nor understand was worthless. Any other interpretation of this line would require you to jump through some pretty big hoops.

>> No.16300706

>>16300666
checked; you're a dumbass for thinking a microbiologist college student wouldn't understand such a statement better than an 18th century non-mathematician philosopher. Elaborate on the 'starting with the Greeks' situation pls

>> No.16300725

>>16300470
>Look into Randi's challenge.
Randi's challenge is bullshit. Anyone who got close they would refuse to do the study or keep changing the parameters until it was impossible to succeed (impossible even if the participant did have psychic powers).

>> No.16300741

>>16300679
There's nothing to understand. What he said in the fictitious anecdote was total nonsense. He also didn't call Diderot anything. The fictional Euler was trying to confuse the fictional Diderot. In real life, Diderot was a mathematician and would have recognized the nonsense as nonsense. The story is more insulting to Euler than to Diderot.

>> No.16300772

>>16300741
>There's nothing to understand. What he said in the fictitious anecdote was total nonsense.
That's the point. I don't see how you could understand the non understandable in the first place, therefore the phrase "by quoting maths he doesn't understand" still holds true, as - even if the equation is complete nonsense - it's still true that he doesn't understand the equation.
>He also didn't call Diderot anything.
He called Diderot a brainlet BY quoting maths he doesn't understand, he didn't call him a brainlet directly, which again was in the quote.
>In real life, Diderot was a mathematician and would have recognized the nonsense as nonsense. The story is more insulting to Euler than to Diderot.
Yes. The quote is from "Men of Mathematics" I believe, and the author is a massive pseud.

>> No.16300781

>>16300772
btw I'm referring to the "quote" from the last line of anon's post in the second response here, and the quote from the book in the third response.

>> No.16300801

>>16300533
OP here. You're missing the point. a+bn/n = x doesn't prove God, obviously.
The joke is that Diderot was annoying and Euler embarrassed him and made him stop.

>> No.16300891

>>16300324
First, a preface. This is an 18+ board son. Leave and finish your homework.

Secondly,

a) You have no clue what 'schizophrenia' is.
b) The vast, vast majority of religious people don't claim to see or hear God. (This would, in fact, be theologically impossible.)
c) Orthodox Christianity believes that 'visions' of God and/or angels are demonic tricks. You'd only confirm Christian beliefs here.

>> No.16300908

>>16299779
Wrong. We were taught to say his name like ‘oiler’ in school.

>> No.16300930

>>16300891
Seething christcuck brainlet.

>> No.16300992

>>16299684
fr. every kind of art is only in failure

>> No.16301769
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16301769

>>16300347
>Are you literally retarded?

>> No.16301805

>>16301769
>conveniently dodges the question

>> No.16302047

>>16300533
plug in numbers and u will see it obviously means nothing isn't this supposed to be the "smarty" board of this shit site. im old as fuck thats why I go on here. whatever is next up online.. I don't know about it. I thought this was smarty world (fuck jammies fuck white people fuck the quaran )