Wittgenstein's visit to Ithaca in 1949 (2012) [pdf](people.soc.cornell.edu)
people.soc.cornell.edu
Wittgenstein's visit to Ithaca in 1949 (2012) [pdf]
http://people.soc.cornell.edu/swedberg/Wittgenstein%27sVisittoIthaca.pdf
8 comments
He barely missed meeting Feynman here (XD) but there is a true story about the next best thing, Wittgenstein having Freeman Dyson over for coffee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byi3vOnVodQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byi3vOnVodQ
Richard Feynman and Ronald Reagan both worked for GE a long time ago. I'm not sure how close in time and space they got.
But it sort of boggled my mind when I realized people who worked there in the 50s saw them more as co-workers than as a Nobel Prize winner and world famous politician. Because that stuff happened in the 60s.
But it sort of boggled my mind when I realized people who worked there in the 50s saw them more as co-workers than as a Nobel Prize winner and world famous politician. Because that stuff happened in the 60s.
I would be expect hostile behaviour when you mentioned T to W. But that is quite fun.
I like the anecdotes about quirky logicians and I thought I'd share one... I was taking a logic class with Leonard Adleman (the A in RSA). I was doing pretty poorly in the class (not good at proofs) but he was pretty helpful and he asked why I was taking the class. I mentioned that I took a philosophy of language class that I liked and then he asked what I thought of Wittgenstein. I said that I'm interested in all that stuff but I understand Wittgenstein the least. Prof. Adleman pretty much agreed and said that he didn't get Wittgenstein. I told him I was worried about passing the class and he asked me if I'd be ok with a C- and I said yeah... Best C- of my academic experience!
Most interesting. The novelistic heritage is interesting: Murdoch and Gass directly, Wallace at one remove.
Great story. Wittgenstein wore his shoes without socks
This is really a good read. He is an odd man. But he is what he is. Thanks.
Here’s a particularly nice one about David Foster Wallace:
> James Wallace, who was a graduate student in philosophy in 1959-1962, not only learned philosophy at Cornell but also picked up a gesture of Wittgenstein. The gesture - hitting himself in the back of his head, to indicate what a fool he was was then passed on to his son, David Foster Wallace, who eventually figured out its origin.