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Date: | Fri Mar 31 17:18:44 2006 |
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Dear Ross,
I am amazed that the metaphor of cat and mouse is beginning to take a life
of its own. I want to avoid being trapped by it. I regard Adam Smith as a
very big cat (The King Lion). So the identity of who is the cat and who is
mouse is open to switching, confusing the metaphor.
I take the approach that we are living in a house that our ancestors built,
and the construction has been an ongoing process. I am not as brave as
Knight to suppose that we have somewhat of a correct view as opposed to the
presumably incorrect view of our ancestors. I think that every generation
makes changes in the house they inherit to suit their lifestyles. In my
case, I am actually trying to return to the roots, sort of going back to the
old house and see it somewhat from the view of <the mouse = the old cat>.
Of course I admit that our tastes differ from our ancestors. We get bored by
long verbal expositions and crave for neat math. May be we also prefer
sharper distinctions. But I am not convinced that we are intellectually
superior. Indeed, my argument is that we have strayed quite a lot and ought
to rethink our point of origin.
Mohammad Gani
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