I'm the only cellist in the estate now.


Just stuff I was thinking before the real focus of my post.


Taken from Kevin Liew's blog:


...ok I'd better not quote without his permission. I shall quote the book and his notes though, which form the bulk of his post.

10.3 Equivalence Relations

"You are sad," the Knight said in an anxious tone: "let me sing you a song to comfort you."
"Is it very long?" Alice asked, for she had heard a good deal of poetry that day.
"It's long," said the Knight, "but very, very beautiful. Everybody that hears me sing it - either it brings the tears into their eyes, or else - "
"Or else what?" said Alice, for the Knight had made a sudden pause.
"Or else it doesn't, you know. The name of the song is called 'Haddocks' Eyes.'"
"Oh, that's the name of the song, is it?" Alice said, trying to feel interested.
"No, you don't understand," the Knight said, looking a little vexed. "That's what the name is called. The name really is 'The Aged Aged Man.'"
"Then I ought to have said 'That's what the song is called'?" Alice corrected herself.
"No, you oughtn't: that's quite another thing! The song is called 'Ways and Means": but that's only what it's called, you know!"
"Well, what is the song, then?" said Alice, who was by this time completely bewildered.
"I was coming to that,' the Knight said. "The song really is 'A-sitting On A Gate': and the tune's my own invention."
So saying, he stopped his horse and let the reins fall on its neck: then, slowly beating time with one hand, and with a faint smile lighting up his gentle foolish face, as if he enjoyed the music of his song, he began.

- Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass, 1872

...

Exercise Set 10.3
43. Refer to the quote at the beginning of this section to answer the following questions.
a. What is the name of the Knight's song called?
b. What is the name of the Knight's song?
c. What is the Knight's song called?
d. What is the Knight's song?
e. What is your (full, legal) name?
f. What are you called?
g. What are you? (Do not answer this on paper; just think about it.)


My answers:
a)Haddocks' Eyes
b)The Aged Aged Man
c)Ways and Means
d)A-sitting On A Gate

All these on assumption that the information supplied by the Knight is entirely true


e) I'd be an idiot if I didn't know this one. However, I think I shouldn't be putting this on the internet.
f)Kenny
g)still thinking!


It seems, then, that what something is called is totally unrelated to what it really is; and the name, a mere representation of the thing in question, may contain absolutely no information pertaining to its nature.


How about: the name of a person says absolutely nothing about what he's like, and what people call him is no indication of his nature.


...I thought this was Maths?


Seems so philosophical to me.


May continue the post later.