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Nick Nicholas scripsit: > >What the last digit of my phone number is has changed. > > Is this different from "the last digit of my phone number has > changed"? I don't see how right now. I don't exactly remember how this works, but it's got something to do with the reification of "my phone number", such that I have not got a *new* phone number, but rather the system has changed around me. In fact I think it was the first digit. > Geoff Sampson wrote a sympathetic book review of CLL, as you > may know (I'm getting someone to type it up for me and will send it > to list, because people don't seem to know about it.) Excellent. > (I have to say, though, falsifiable syllogisms are a delightful > change to me, after several years of historical and literary > reasoning that's full of hedges and maybes and probablys. It sucks > following a train of thought for a couple of hours, only to realise > that it can't possibly work; but it's also heartening, because > disproof is instructive too.) Ward at last published a devastating book in which he proved conclusively, by a series of syllogisms, that the only proper course for the Church of England was to repent in sackcloth and ashes her separation from the Communion of Rome. The reckless author was deprived of his degree by an outraged University, and a few weeks later was received into the Catholic Church. --Lytton Strachey, _Eminent Victorians_, "Cardinal Manning" -- John Cowan <jcowan@hidden.email> http://www.ccil.org/~cowan "One time I called in to the central system and started working on a big thick 'sed' and 'awk' heavy duty data bashing script. One of the geologists came by, looked over my shoulder and said 'Oh, that happens to me too. Try hanging up and phoning in again.'" --Beverly Erlebacher