Re: RPG IV and CF-spec "keep it IBM"

Bruce wrote:
>Hans: Music IS mathematics, an octave, a fifth, etc, are just ratios.
>
>I would recommend both "e: The Story of a Number" by Eli Maor and
>"Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid" by Douglas Hofstadter for
>further exploring these relationships.

Sure, at a basic level music is just ratios.  My point is that
a sense of aesthetics, which musicians and other artists
obviously have, is a tremendous advantage when doing computer
programming.  But does a musician need to understand the
underlying mathematics in order to make pleasing music?
Likewise, does a programmer need to understand computability
theory in order to write good programs?  In both cases, the
most important thing is aptitude, but that alone doesn't make
one a good artist or a good programmer.

BTW, I did read GEB, shortly after it was published 19 years
ago.  In retrospect, it seems a bit long-winded.  I don't
know if I could find the time to read it again these days.

Cheers!  Hans

Hans Boldt, ILE RPG Development, IBM Toronto Lab, boldt@ca.ibm.com


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