Subject: Re: [HM] Siegel on Hitler and abstract math
From: Colin McLarty (cxm7@po.cwru.edu)
Date: Mon Feb 21 2000 - 16:12:16 EST
I agree with everything Abe Schenitzer says on this, except that I am
unsure what he means by calling my subject line "propaganda". I would only
add some particulars.
Shenitzer writes:
> I readily grant that Siegel's bringing the Nazis into his remarks directed
> against abstract-minded mathematicians was foolish and provocative.
He sums up by quoting a friend:
> P.S. A friend of mine observed: What is being compared [by Siegel] is
> (1) the effects and consequences, and (2) the style and propaganda [in
> the quote "Wir werden weiter marschieren ... ] of people's actions.
> It _cannot_ be a comparison of their motives and doctrines (which are
> totally incomparable).
As we know (and Siegel knew) the "effects and consequences" and "style
and propaganda" of the NS were murderous and riddled with lies. When the NS
sang "we will march on till all is shattered" they meant to literally shatter
storefronts, presses, Synagogues, and more (already in the early 1930s, not
to mention later). Siegel repeatedly, and publicly, compared these effects
and style--to abstract mathematics.
Siegel was so blinded by his dislike for this math that he could not
speak responsibly about it.
Colin McLarty
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