Re:Mathematicians should stop naming things after each other
by pbhjpbhj on Saturday September 05, 2020 @02:26PM
(#24385725)
Yes, agreed with the second part.
>"Why do mathematicians continue to proffer and accept this courtesy, when it increases their own mental load and makes their own work more opaque?" (the OP) //
I imagine because it doesn't increase their mental load? It might even reduce it; abstraction is a principle component of the field after all.
Using descriptive names sounds like it requires a half-arsed disabstraction, a series of munged verbose partial truths?
Naming for authors is partially self-documenting too, though practically that's probably not often useful.
>"Why do mathematicians continue to proffer and accept this courtesy, when it increases their own mental load and makes their own work more opaque?" (the OP) //
I imagine because it doesn't increase their mental load? It might even reduce it; abstraction is a principle component of the field after all.
Using descriptive names sounds like it requires a half-arsed disabstraction, a series of munged verbose partial truths?
Naming for authors is partially self-documenting too, though practically that's probably not often useful.