Re: RE:Full Retraction with my Apologies

jstevh_at_msn.com
Date: 04/23/05 

Date: 22 Apr 2005 16:07:11 -0700

Juuso Hukkanen wrote:
> Fri 12 Apr 1996 13:24:50 +0200, James Harris <jstevhar@ix.netcom.com>
> wrote:
>
> >It's seems silly to say that obviously my attempt at a proof
> >isn't even close. But I feel guilty enough to do so.
> >Obviously, I was suffering from a bit of delusion which has
> >amazingly come off and on. I'll only say that I've been
> >under some pressures.
>
> >It's amazing what the mind will believe if pushed, and
> >I'll continue to believe that Fermat found a simple
> >solution---despite the evidence to the contrary---simply
> >because that's what I choose to believe.
>
> >In any event, I've found that the mild release making
> >outrageous claims has given me is finally surmounted
> >by a sense of shame; so I'll quit. Since I have nothing
> >of value to add to this newsgroup, I will unsubscribe.
>
> >My apologies to anyone concerned or in any way interested.
>
> James, You wrote that 9 years and 10 days ago. That was a great post.
> How far are you now from writing a similar post? Maybe You could
> exchange some offline thoughts with experts of other fields.
>

That was a good post. It sounds like when I'd spent a lot of time with
this particular argument which I was certain proved FLT.

I sat back, and had lots of fantasies about being famous and doing
things like going on Oprah.

I'd come on and rant a bit at posters and about mathematicians not
accepting my work, and challenge people to check for themselves.

And then I found out I was wrong.

I don't know if I can describe the feeling, but it's a horrible
feeling.

To me it was such a huge, horrible thing, and I don't know how long it
was before I posted that I was wrong, and pulled down websites, and
settled into this new world of going from thinking I was on top of the
world--or about to be--to realizing that the posters who kept saying I
was wrong, were right.

I decided that it was silly to have this quest of solving some great
math problem, and silly to push myself so desperately as desperate did
not work.

The math didn't change.

The arguments I came up with didn't suddenly start working because it'd
make me feel terrible for them not to work.

Mathematics was absolute, rigid, unyielding, and what was true was
true.

And what was wrong, was wrong, and I was wrong.

So what happened? How am I here today with math results in several
areas now claiming that I'm right?

Well, I quit for a while, and found myself just kind of thinking about
FLT and thought that was silly, and then one day, I realized something.

I LIKED fiddling with those damn equations. I liked scribbling out
simple algebraic formulas, and trying to see if there wasn't some clue.

I just enjoyed the effort without thought of the reward, or better yet,
the effort WAS the reward.

A couple of years later I had some major results that held up to all
serious scrutiny.

<delete>

> Other side of the coin, James - I and many others like your writing
> style / skills. You are famous and You have already put thousands of
> pages of good (copyrighted) text online. You could easily
> collect/write a GOOD book using that material and laugh all the way
to
> the bank.
>

Hey, thanks! I like to write. I like to post.

I like to talk out math ideas.

Gee, wouldn't you think that's why I'm on math newsgroups on Usenet?

As for writing a book, I don't trust people, so I figure posters would
rant about how horrible a book it is, and no one would buy it, as they
seem to be enthralled by people saying negatives about me.

So, no, I won't write a book while I don't believe the effort would be
rewarded.

Some people would put up nasty webpages about how crappy the book was
and no one would buy it, like I can't get any traction with my math
discoveries.

People can't be trusted.

> Maybe sci.psychology.theory experts might have some thoughts of what
> is been going on at sci.crypt and sci.math . Obviously sci.crypt and
> sci.math are lacking expertise in all required fields.
>

It's been tried. A few years ago some obnoxious posters cross-posted
to some psychology newsgroups trying to enlist help with me.

Sociologist and psychologist may have some interest in such social
phenomena, but I think they think they can already tell you exactly
what's happening.

It's like, they probably feel they already have all the answers.

<deleted>

>
> By the way James please consider following text, is there a message?

I've read it before.

>
> <snip>
> Most mathematicians have had the following experience and those whose
> activities are somewhat more public have had it often: an unsolicited
> letter arrives from an unknown individual and contained in the letter
> is a piece of mathematics of a very sensational nature. The writer
> claims that he has solved one of the great unsolved mathematical
> problems...
>
> The writer of such a letter is usually an amateur, with very little
> training in mathematics. Very often he has a poor understanding of
> the nature of the problem he is dealing with, and an imperfect notion
> of just what a mathematical proof is and how it operates.
>
> The writer is usually male, frequently a retired person with leisure
> to pursue on his mathematics...Very often the correspondent not only
> 'succeeds' in solving one of the great mathematical unsolvables, but
> has also found a way to construct an antigravity shield, to interpret
> the mysteries of the Great Pyramid and of Stonehenge, and is well on
> his way to producing the Philosopher's Stone. This is no
> exaggeration.
>
> If the recipient of such a letter answers it, he will generally find
> himself entangled with a person with whom he cannot communicate
> scientifically and who exhibits many symptoms of paranoia. One gets
> to recognize such correspondents on sight, and to leave their letters
> unanswered, thus unfortunately increasing the paranoia.
>
> Davis and Hersh, The Mathematical Experience (1981)
> </snip>

Yes, there is a message:

Mathematicians claim that people who try to send them their own
mathematical ideas are crazy.

Sure, they may get a lot of contacts that annoy them, or bother them,
but what if someone is right, and has a major result?

Now they get to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

> sci.psychology.theory experts: Is there a specific name for above
> mentioned illness. If not, I claim that illness to be named
Hukkanen's
> syndrome. But hey didn't non-professional breakthrough claims
> constitute to Hukkanen's syndrome itself. Damn, I found a recursive
> illness. Damn finding recursive...

I wonder about you people. And no, you didn't discover anything, and I
find it hard to believe that you'd even consider that you did.

But I have a strange feeling that you're serious.

James Harris

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