On Mon, Sep 2, 2024 at 2:57 PM Steven Vickers <s.j.vickers.1@bham.ac.uk<mailto:s.j.vickers.1@bham.ac.uk>> wrote:
Dear Vaughan,
It's easy to make the summary "A topos is simply one of many possible generalizations of sets and their functions ...", but that's definitely an over-simplification.
I thought Vaughan was trying to say how the Guardian could have explained toposes. Such an explanation had darn well better be simplified, even "over-simplified". But I will attack Vaughan from the other side (hi Vaughan!). I don't think the Guardian editors would allow a journalist to give such a technical and mysterious explanation. But maybe I'm underestimating math education in the UK. Do typical Guardian readers know what "functions between sets" are? I think in the US most people, if they remember their math classes at all, have only heard of functions from the real numbers to the real numbers, like polynomials and the dreaded "trig functions". But I really don't have a good sense of what most people know about math, or what the article could have usefully done to explain toposes. Best, jb You're receiving this message because you're a member of the Categories mailing list group from Macquarie University. To take part in this conversation, reply all to this message. View group files<https://outlook.office365.com/owa/categories@mq.edu.au/groupsubscription.ashx?source=EscalatedMessage&action=files&GuestId=6bf90c14-94d1-45b7-a0b5-9dd447734d27> | Leave group<https://outlook.office365.com/owa/categories@mq.edu.au/groupsubscription.ashx?source=EscalatedMessage&action=leave&GuestId=6bf90c14-94d1-45b7-a0b5-9dd447734d27> | Learn more about Microsoft 365 Groups<https://aka.ms/o365g>