[Ads-l] imaginary n.

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Belloc may have misunderstood imaginary numbers (complex numbers).
They are not fictional or illusory elements with "no real existence".
The construction of an enlarged complex number system containing the
square root of negative one was an important conceptual breakthrough.

The name "imaginary" was a terrible choice. The name "complex" was not
much better.
Garson

On Sat, Aug 26, 2023 at 3:55 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Yeah, but fascism isn't "imaginary."
>
> Regrettably.
>
> JL
>
> On Sat, Aug 26, 2023 at 12:52 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <
> adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Here is a pertinent citation from Hilaire Belloc as mentioned by Dennis.
> >
> > Year: 1924
> > Book: Economics for Helen
> > Author: Hilaire Belloc
> > G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York
> > Quote Page 212
> > Database: Google Books Full View
> >
> >
> > https://books.google.com/books?id=I9w1AQAAIAAJ&q=%22Economic+Imaginaries%22#v=snippet&
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > This subject is what I call "Economic Imaginaries."
> >
> > An imaginary is a term taken from mathematics, and means a value which
> > appears on paper but has no real existence. It would be too long and
> > much too puzzling to explain what imaginaries in mathematics are, but
> > I can give you a very simple example of what they are in Economics.
> > They mean economic values or lumps of wealth which appear on paper
> > when you are making calculations, so that one would think the wealth
> > was really there, but which when you go closely into their nature you
> > find do not really exist.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Garson
> >
> > On Sat, Aug 26, 2023 at 12:35 PM Dennis During <dcduring at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Usage in this sense is not rare in academic literature, extending at
> > least
> > > to 1978. There was a nonce use by Hilaire Belloc in the 1920s as well. He
> > > used the term to mean "a fictitious thing" or similar. See
> > > https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/imaginary#Noun.
> > >
> > > On Sat, Aug 26, 2023 at 11:25 AM Jonathan Lighter <
> > wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > https://www.yahoo.com/news/biographer-warns-trump-turn-criminal-094502743.html
> > > > :
> > > >
> > > > " Donald Trump is much more than a man; he is a character and a symbol.
> > > > That is how fascism and other such political imaginaries function. "
> > > >
> > > > JL
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > truth."
> > > >
> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Dennis C. During
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org