Question Selection

[Lamonte]

John Von Neumann said,

"It is just as foolish, to complain that people are selfish and treacherous, as it is to complain that the magnetic field does not increase unless the electric field has a curl. Both are laws of nature."
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theshadow

[bill]

Von Neumann must have been a pessimist. I am neither selfish nor treacherous.

People have a choice the magnetic field has no choice

It is mans nature to strive for moral and ethical behavior

The laws of nature have nothing to do with the laws of man

Men utilize the laws of nature the laws of nature do not utilize men
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love creation machine

[Lamonte]

John Von Neumann was not talking about you. He was referring to the evil people that we have always had. His opinion is about reality not pessimism. Individuals have a choice, but collectively we always have some evil ones. It is not every man's nature to behave morally and ethically. Your last two points are irrelevant to what his point was.
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theshadow

[bill]

That is what happens when you quote someone out of context.

He did say people and not some people

I said mans nature not a mans Men in general not all men

According to what you quoted he said both are laws of nature

Hence "the laws of nature have nothing to do with the laws of man"

Hence "men utilize the laws of nature the laws of nature do not utilize men"
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love creation machine

[Lamonte]

People is the same as some people. It was not intended to mean all people but it did mean that some people will be evil. Why are you in disagreement with the facts. We have always had evil people and his assessment is valid. He was from Hungary and English was one of many he spoke. Sometimes this changes how things are said. He probably wasn't nearly as intelliget as you. However one of his Professors did say tis about him.
The only student of mine I was ever intimidated by. He was so quick. There was a seminar for advanced students in Zürich that I was teaching and von Neumann was in the class. I came to a certain theorem, and I said it is not proved and it may be difficult. Von Neumann didn't say anything but after five minutes he raised his hand. When I called on him he went to the blackboard and proceeded to write down the proof. After that I was afraid of von Neumann.
George Pólya, in How to Solve It (1957) 2nd edition, p.xv
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theshadow

[bill]

But like I said there is nothing in the quote to show that is what he meant.
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love creation machine

[davar55]

Since Marilyn's OP was about Question Selection, and Math seems
to be a big subject of interest in many of the threads on this forum,
I'd like to express my curiosity as to how she chooses the Math
related questions and problems she includes in her column.
Is it by ease of comprehension of the problem or the solution?
Can someone describe, without giving their details, the different
kinds of Math questions she's answered?