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[Darvi]

Mine don't, but I have faulty tear ducts.

[TD1]

I doubt you look at it and shed a tear.

You're... actually not correct about that.

My textbooks literally have tearstains and blood on their pages.

I can't tell if you're being serious? I think you are, so will act on that assumption.
Then you do shed a tear, and you find it beautiful. Presumably. But that's because of something you attached to it...in the end, it's just brute fact. It is a part of the workings of the universe, but any emotion attached to it is your own construct.

[Mr. Strange]

[Helgoland]

I was in a Malevich exhibit about a week ago. At first, I just saw pictures from someone trying to find something to say, but after a few more paintings... I was going through the exhibit, completely euphoric. Two friends were with me - one not overly intellectual, one not too much into expressionism, apparently. To them, I must have looked like a maniac, giggling and laughing at - no, because of - a red square on a white background. It was marvellous.
I've also had my first lectures in logic and topology in the past two or three weeks. Logic gives me that very same feeling - it's the pure abstraction of manipulating symbols on paper. No unnecessary ballast of context or visualization - just symbols and rules for their manipulation. It's powerful. And topology feels similar: After getting rid of unnecessary ballast like the concept of distance, a whole world opens up in front of you - in just a few lines of dense definitions. It's very hard to describe, but it's like having the while world at the tip of your finger - absolute truth, ´just waiting for you to do a bit of thinking.
I've never seen a poem that elicited an emotional reaction in me, excluding maybe the Wintermärchen - but that was political. There have only been a few novels or short stories that really touched me - those by Kafka, Brecht and Orwell, and the last two were political, too. The three things that have ever really touched me are Kafka, music and mathematics, and the last one has been the most powerful by far.

I pity the fool who thinks mathematics is just dumb calculation.

Ninjaedit: So's the importance you attach to your poems, Th4DwArfY1. And too your mom. =P

[TD1]

Of course. But it's not necessarily my own personal construct. It was built with emotion in mind, constructed to that purpose. It was made to elicit a response. My response will be different from another, but it's likely to have a similar impact.

[GiglameshDespair]

Have you ever felt like you're a burden to your significant other?

My GF was ill recently (as per normal) and her seems-like depression is back in full force. So in the conversation I had with her, she says I'm an additional source of stress on top of her messed up family and hard-as-balls university course. So while she did not say it in a horrible way, I can't help but feel like I'm a terrible burden to her when she needs a lighter load as possible.

Blargh. I feel bad, though she's no doubt feeling worse at the moment. Maybe she'll be more cheerful when I see her later this week.

[Knit tie]

e^iπ + 1 = 0

holy shit what the hell my brain burns

[TD1]

e^iπ + 1 = 0

holy shit what the hell my brain burns

Had you never seen it before? I'm not that into Maths, but I'd still seen it.

[Bauglir]

Of course. But it's not necessarily my own personal construct. It was built with emotion in mind, constructed to that purpose. It was made to elicit a response. My response will be different from another, but it's likely to have a similar impact.

So to hell with sunsets, then?

[Darvi]

e^iπ + 1 = 0

holy shit what the hell my brain burns

Had you never seen it before? I'm not that into Maths, but I'd still seen it.

That's Euler's identity for you.

Even better, did you know iⁱ is real?

[Putnam]

I doubt you look at it and shed a tear.

You're... actually not correct about that.

My textbooks literally have tearstains and blood on their pages.

I can't tell if you're being serious? I think you are, so will act on that assumption.
Then you do shed a tear, and you find it beautiful. Presumably. But that's because of something you attached to it...in the end, it's just brute fact. It is a part of the workings of the universe, but any emotion attached to it is your own construct.

The exact same could be said about language, except that it's not part of the workings of the universe.

[Helgoland]

e^iπ + 1 = 0

holy shit what the hell my brain burns

Yes, that's known as "Encountering a new idea" in mathematical circles.

[TD1]

I pity the fool who thinks mathematics is just dumb calculation.

Ninjaedit: So's the importance you attach to your poems, Th4DwArfY1. And too your mom. =P

Just noticed the "pity" bit. And in quoting this, the "mom" bit too, but I think it's best for everyone if I ignore that.

I dislike the person who calls someone a fool simply because they do not believe or feel what they do. Despite that, I never said it was just dumb calculation, just that it was not a good vessel for emotion. Not as good at it as English is, at any rate. I believe it's very intelligent, and see beauty in that intelligence, but I can't love it. Or do it well, to be honest.

Of course. But it's not necessarily my own personal construct. It was built with emotion in mind, constructed to that purpose. It was made to elicit a response. My response will be different from another, but it's likely to have a similar impact.

So to hell with sunsets, then?

I don't think I understand your point? If it's that you think I'm saying English is the be all and end all, I'm not. I'm saying that it's a better medium for emotion than maths.

I suppose a sunset could be classified as art. That's separated from both English and Maths, unless you see an equation as art, or a poem as art.

I doubt you look at it and shed a tear.

You're... actually not correct about that.

My textbooks literally have tearstains and blood on their pages.

I can't tell if you're being serious? I think you are, so will act on that assumption.
Then you do shed a tear, and you find it beautiful. Presumably. But that's because of something you attached to it...in the end, it's just brute fact. It is a part of the workings of the universe, but any emotion attached to it is your own construct.

The exact same could be said about language, except that it's not part of the workings of the universe.

Sorry, I should have been clearer. I have the tendency to be vague at times.

With language it isn't your own construct. It is someone else who built the feeling into the words. Your interpretation will differ, but the general feeling tends to get across. Maths, any emotion is something you personally put into it but which isn't an integral part of the equation.

[Darvi]

When people put things into words, my usual reaction is "what the fuck is this a metaphor or are they saying stuff for the hell of it", and that's when I understand the words. You can imagine that I'm not a fan of non-subtle texts.

[Helgoland]

Th4DwArfY1, people can be unmoved by poems as well. Of course mathematics isn't a vessel for emotions, it's not a method of communication - but it can elicit emotions just the same. To say one is superior to the other is really just snobistic - they're not comparable.

The 'pity' bit was sincere, by the way - there's such a wealth of pure beauty out there that most people will never know... And the Yo Momma bit was just an immature joke. I'm drunk right now, please forgive me~