VLVL(6) - Questions: Group Theory

[Tim Kordas]

> (206.25) Weed Atman,  preoccupied with the darker implications of a paper 
> on group theory he'd just been reading
> 
> Does anybody have a clue what this might mean?  Group theory is obscure 
> enough, for me, but what might be its darker implications?  GT being about 
> symmetry, this could refer to the "shadow" in Jungian terms.  Or is this 
> line meant only to emphasize the "head in the clouds" nature of the 
> mathematician, W. Atman?

Mathematical physics is all about generating mathematical descriptions of
the world. The discovery of deep symmetry and complex structures in what
are taken to be the fundamentals of the world itself can be both beautiful
as well as disturbing. Suppose Atman is preoccupied with some piece of
such an elegant description of the world, it is easy to become disturbed
by possible implications isn't it ? Evidence of design, of the world
as "God's computer" or some such would fit well here. What happens when
a mathematician finds the sign "Sorry for the inconvenience" in the
digits of their favorite irrational ?

-Tim
--
Timothy J. Kordas