Date Posted:10:25 Author: anil nerode-27Aug02 Subject: Re: Vedic Mathematics & Prof. Nerode? In reply to:
Thomas Mark-27Aug02
's message, "Re: Vedic Mathematics & Prof. Nerode?" on 10:24
Here is my observation from reading ancient science. It is oversimplified, but there is an element of truth. In ancient Chinese, Egyptian, Bablyonian, and Indian times it was a mystery to all but a few select how some could make systematic calculations such as how much food is needed to sustain an army, how many bricks are needed for a building, etc. These looked like predictions of the future, suitable to seers. (We no longer t view these as predictions of the outcome of future events.) The obvious power of these calculations led to their being put in sacred texts, for that is what sacred texts contain, words of power. Since they were powerful in the material world, they figured they must have power in the immaterial world as well. Thus we have the Cabala and the Indian and Chinese equivalents, full of arithmetical calculations involving lengths of words, dates, astronomical cycles, etc. They had the hope that these calculations would unveil spritual mysteries as they had unveiled material ones. An extraordinary experiment in wishful thinking. The application of methods appropriate to one sphere to another in which they have no significance.
