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Me to just say that it was wonderful he got he did his Ph.D. in philosophy and logic before he became a distributed systems expert for sun and he says finally he's got something that he can hand to his friends and family members and say this is what I used to do so. So he did it. It is a wonderful conveyance but it's a wonderful Can Dance because it really is a novel and the characters are developed at but it's more than a novel it's a novel in which in which the narrator appears and I don't mean Russell for the moment although I think that the whether the narrator is Russell or papa to meet you I think you sometimes lose track a little bit. So so let me let let me let me just start with A. You know a simple question about the book itself that I'm yeah sure question about logic and then I think I'm going to ask you a question about emotions. OK. So so and then we'll turn to the audience and get some questions from the to the question about the book itself is everybody who reads this is going to want to
go write one themselves and they're going to be all mad. Even those of us who've written books already that we didn't have the idea of writing one of these you know graphic novels. Himself so. So tell us a tell us what advice you would give for all the people who have the inspiration that instead of doing whatever kind of writing they might do or have done this is what they want to do now. So. I discovered the business. Probably more than half of the U.S.A. and it was the same and not. So likely. You know we found a lot of this is very hard to sort of you know it has happened before it has happened before.
You know I should have conceived project eight and a half years ago. We started seriously work on it five and a half years. You know before that we were doing sketches and so on. You know but but. I. I I wish a lot of people you know experiment but it's a tricky business for example so we're going to you know we sort of promise that there's going to be a sequel. Frankly. I mean I don't have us want to be. You know even if I knew that it will be you know. I'm glad I'm glad I did. It's a beautiful it's a it's a big it's a beautifully done book it's you know the printing quality is very high. The graphics are wonderful the you know I particularly
enjoyed the landscapes of Athens and Berkeley and so on those are there to really the wonderful thing. OK now. My reading. Of. The other thing I mean everybody asks us what are you smoking but they don't know you know it was an idea you know I thought it was a I thought it was crazy I laughed then I can I can I laughed again. But then I realized it was it was a reasonable idea. You know so if I think I'm going to object. Let me know if you think about it. In a study going over a lot of those sort of capturing that picture of that. So you know they are going to know that you just open the bases and you have it. So that yeah ok logic. My sense is that. That.
The sense that you get from that I got from reading this is your profound respect for Russell. So Russell is he gets more air time than anybody else in the book because the the the next to superficial frame the superficial frame is the authors writing the book and then the day the next frame is Russell giving this talk and then the various events in the history of logic happen through the eyes of you know you know eyes of eyes of Russell that you know Russell's you know as you point out his actual contributions still to logic in the long dream I mean it was somebody needed to do it. And we're all glad that he spent 10 years of his life doing it. And. We like he we're we're glad to put it behind him and move on move on to something else. Vicky Stein On the other hand you know and I I'm going to invite you to say a little bit
more about him because I mean 59 is of course is a you know it's you know an amazing character not explicitly met as many members of his family are but full of such passionate intensity his might you know as many of the others Russell his temporarily and you know the all of the you know these great mathematical thinkers have been when they are struggling with something really hard and because time you know lived whole years of his life you know on this you know on the on the edge of this intensity. But picking style is the one guy that you actually take a slap at you papa Demetrius in the book where you say that Tractatus logical philosophic us is on your top 10 list of most overrated books ever written. And so you got you got you can't just you know now that we've got you here on the stage ever. Everybody else you know you you kind of let Russell say something or you you know that or you
you know you draw them the way they're drawn here with little spirals coming out of their eyes or something like that. But if this is the one case where where where Chris is proper to refuse you know this is one of the worst books ever written. OK so so I do you know how do you you know that was not a little bit more subtle when I when I said that as a first. OK. When when I told them you know I don't have you know two years into the project you know I mean I think about yourself a lot of the biography it was OK you know and that you know their fear their you know their man that I could never. OK so you know so and so he stops you around he spends I mean he he makes you believe anything you want so there's also you know he's a Nobel Prize in literature you know so he's a he's a he's incredible and and it's very difficult not to be seen but had you know even though he's going to so you know comes out you know he confesses somewhere
but comes out with you know but I mean no I I I was I was completely out of the Bible about God I mean so. Biggest I know they saw especially things that I you know I have the perfect answer. Listen I'm a professional I'm a nobody. I mean I was so so so so I mean I saw it this particular this particular this particular thing was one of the things that was that I fought with the possible those that we shouldn't be that I know you know I don't want to say OK because I don't believe it. OK so I actually go philosophical you know. Voted against and generally do OK. As far as I can tell and I'm not I'm not I'm not an expert you know so I counsel of his office not because I think he's a better piece of work. OK so you know and it's a groundbreaking witness of genius and they're being very graduates and all that I mean oh so.
You know I I have much less patience and respect for Bill. OK. Not Be not be not being not being especially sort of you know frankly I have I have it he have it he's later writings about mathematics OK which I find you know how can I say it I mean I look very hard. I mean not like a little bit I guess that's called I look very hard but I cannot find something which is clever you know. OK so you know if I could. OK so so I mean there is in fact there are some notes where he has a dialogue with touring and it's like sort of you know night and day. This Ok so that I think the simple answer to the question is blame the co-author. He's not here to talk about well say so. OK so so finally I want to hit on this this theme of that of the the the edge between madness and sanity in New York you know which is which is so beautifully developed through that. I mean there are characters that are just mad men and all that although as you say not on not only and not always in the forms of
badness that we're necessarily recognize but so the this group either themselves or in their families there's there's plenty of insanity and there's also these all of these characters who are you know what I refer to as you know full of passionate intensity and where where you know they themselves and everybody else must you know wonder how long they can keep it up before losing all sense of the you know of the real world and that's one of the themes of the book about the the the real world and its representation and so on you you end up with the aura stay at and you have the demonization of the Fury's as the closure of the of the of the book which is you know a lovely way you know. Relieving the fear of madness and
of our and being under the control of madmen and mad women. OK but just before then there's the scene with papa Dimitri again where he is trapped in a you know horrible episode of lack of control that's not of his own creation. He's why he's and he's trying to find the way back to his school in Athens and he set upon by people who steal from him and fool him and there's threats of violence and some actual violence. What's that scene about. Where did that come from. Good question you know there was a lot of the basics but for some reason a lot of things came and went. But the but something like this would be to sort of like I don't know like
you know. The best brought out of the Afghans and the contrast between the two. What's the way some parts of how things look know and to demand. So you know made us made us think I mean. And. If you remember what comes out of the trees some kind of deflection about the boating side of the story you know because. We are all. Making up structures you know like and and because that's how it worked out so that's how we function as human beings as social beings as thinkers. And.
One particular week there's a lot of us have to go to the auction like how to do which to start. And so otherwise to confuse our lives our life with my maps of life. And and so this was sort of the metaphor of the road. Yeah. OK so that's that's before I turn to the audience. You know I'll I'll try to raise the level of levity slightly so you tell me you know you say that there is some ultimate truth in the whole story line whether the factual details are accurate or not but I really do want to know was Whitehead's wife young blonde and pretty. Yes yes yes. Serious You are the light blue eyes the Irish the Irish everything. Yes yes yes. She's very she's very comely in the play yeah. She what she wants Yeah
OK. Questions from the audience. You could if you could say who you are if you'd like or not. Oh so I'll tell you I was the new comedy in the comic business my fic authors you know two of them were professional out of his doing comics and moving ahead and then he may show you know their lives and that was where was the Great fun of comics OK so I was the last of the of the of the part of that that that has this that they do and when we decided to do it when I saw the sort of the.
Reason in their madness I know they actually gave me at least of two dozen books that I know I had only had mouse. OK so I was a complete dick not I was and I did so. So either they gave me a list of I know I spent a summer reading that eating their words and of course I snapped and said very much about yeah yeah so but I'm you know for example let it go and it was was also in the least you know or you know and some other questions. Let's see there's two back there so I'm going to point to the one in front. Yes you were the person just took your head stock and you can see. Thank you. So probably have just you know I would be delighted to tell you more of more of
more afterwards but I can tell you now that we have been really on most of the better play named I believe not but it's to be age the we we have some ideas about essentially that all of sex and evolution and how it affects what we know that we're to understand those genes and genetic. So I would be delighted to tell you more. Yes. I'm reminded that I should be paraphrasing the question since the recording or
pick them up so the quite the question is were you at all influenced our thinking about the play in Copenhagen which is another scientific drama. Put it in a dramatic form. I believe I have never seen give a hang about having read the book. And and I loved it. I believe that it was I who did it he did quite a bit after we had we had formulated logic comics I'm not sure if I feel that I want to post those who probably have been at it before me have been influenced you know what I think I kind of really cannot tell I mean it is one of the of the books that is inside me. You know so that I do remember other questions yes. You do. What was the reason you decided to tell the story comic for
so the lot of you know the one that is in which I realized you know I had asked your allies the X-Post is the one I told you about the historic of the study mostly of you know as I was thinking about this story I realized that it either you know. We know it would we know with the book with a proposal to do it in comic form in hand. Then I realized that it was sort of a dot of atmospheric lots of Europe first world war and into Bedlam and. If you think about it sort of you know this is this is a perfect you know this is perfect I mean oh great comic books I mean I like to think Batman OK so you know they create the daughter could not academies feel sort of you know not even you know for for them to work so and I was convinced that this is this is a this is a and also this is this is frankly an
excessively tragic story OK so so so that you know I think I think that I really think that that's the comic form and I can see that it has as much as it's got if we got time for one more and then we should probably wrap up. So your last question yes sir. The question has to do with the I'm not sure I can paraphrase it perfectly. I'll let you repeat the question. Yeah yeah well I'll let you answer which of whatever question you want to answer.
You know so that some of the grads understand the question varies. From. Mathematics to fire you know we all know it's not inevitable in the sense that. Thousands of mathematicians sitting every one your money in that desk sort of you know and there are many truths many many directions to explore and they choose some Ok so. So I believe that I believe that that varies a lot of personality scientific choices I believe that that varies. We we choose I mean how we choose things that speak to out of fear and obsessions. I you know for example I mean no. I mean no that. That this is this is the way in which I understand sort of you know the connection between between between madness and science sort of you know that that if you are a brilliant adolescent about to
choose your scientific career and you think that there is you know you have a fear of madness or you have you have reasons to believe that there is something terrible up happening upstairs probably sort of you know youre going to you know this is going to influence your choice okay and you you may be you may turn to the field that promises more certainty stability and frankly in the first half of the 20th century that was that that must have been logic. Thank you it's it's it's you know it's it's a very interesting work I. There was a wonderful paper written a few years ago it was called something like mathematics on Mars or mathematics on an alien planet. And they they said what. Which parts of mathematics as we have them would exist if in a intelligent society that had developed completely independent of ours and you know boolean logic would have
evolved. I think we bred ramified type theory would not have you know that would be only good something that would not exist. And that's why the predicate are there not you know sort of the Yeah Yeah. Thank you so much there are books for sale in the back. There is an author eager to sign them and let's all give Christmas the THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Thanks so much.
Collection
Harvard Book Store
Series
WGBH Forum Network
Program
Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth
Contributing Organization
WGBH (Boston, Massachusetts)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/15-hq3rv0d58c
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Description
Description
Author and computer scientist Christos Papadimitriou discusses his new graphic novel-ized biography of the philosopher and logician Bertrand Russell, Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth.
Date
2009-10-28
Topics
Literature
Subjects
Culture & Identity; Art & Architecture
Media type
Moving Image
Duration
00:23:02
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Credits
Distributor: WGBH
Speaker2: Papadimitriou, Christos H.
AAPB Contributor Holdings
WGBH
Identifier: 3582164e9002bb799e57236e6d48519167fa64c9 (ArtesiaDAM UOI_ID)
Format: video/quicktime
Duration: 00:00:00
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Citations
Chicago: “Harvard Book Store; WGBH Forum Network; Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth,” 2009-10-28, WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed October 25, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-hq3rv0d58c.
MLA: “Harvard Book Store; WGBH Forum Network; Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth.” 2009-10-28. WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. October 25, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-hq3rv0d58c>.
APA: Harvard Book Store; WGBH Forum Network; Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth. Boston, MA: WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-hq3rv0d58c