Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2012 June 28

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June 28

Ernestine duchies

Map of the Ernestine duchies

How did the Ernestine duchies and other German states administered tiny territorial enclaves in other people's territory that are not part of the main territory?--Queen Elizabeth II's Little Spy (talk) 07:36, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

If you were an Imperial Knight, your little landed estate (possibly discontinuous) could be considered just as independent as any duchy or electorate within the empire, so the whole thing was quite convoluted and fragmentary in many areas... AnonMoos (talk) 12:35, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

The tiny districts often formed an Amt with an Amtmann doing the routine adminstration tasks. --Pp.paul.4 (talk) 18:59, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

NEWSPAPERS

WHICH NEWSPAPER IS ASSOCIATED WITH SWAMI VIVEKANANDA?Arkshanar01 (talk) 15:21, 28 June 2012 (UTC) IT IS MY HOME WORK AND I THIINK ANSWER SHOULD BE ANANDA PATRIKA. PLEASE VERIFY IT.

I googled swami vivekananda "newspaper" and got many results. Do you mean during his lifetime, or today? (Our article Swami Vivekananda is silent on the matter.) Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:08, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

"swami vivekananda" newspaper would be better —Tamfang (talk) 20:51, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

Do you mean Anandabazar Patrika? I'm not sure of a connection except that Vivekananda was from a Bengali family in Calcutta, and Anandabazar Patrika is a Bengali newspaper in Calcutta... Adam Bishop (talk) 20:16, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

Introductory book on logic

Could someone recommend good beginner's books on logic? There are so many of them, I don't know what to pick. Please keep in mind that I know next to nothing about the subject. --BorgQueen (talk) 15:57, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

That may depend on what you're looking to follow on from the logic. The basics of logic are used in electrical engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence, mathematics, linguistics, law, and philosophy. They all (kinda) start at the same place, but it's common for different textbooks aimed at different audiences to emphasise what's appropriate for that curriculum. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 16:38, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

I think I am leaning toward AI and computer science in general. --BorgQueen (talk) 18:21, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

The obvious answer is to work it out logically. If you don't have enough skills with the use of logic, I'd suggest consulting a good book on the subject.  :) -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ ^{[your turn]} 01:45, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

Wouldn't that be a Catch-10110? Clarityfiend (talk) 04:41, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

Go to the top of the class. -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ ^{[your turn]} 09:00, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

I don't find it funny. --BorgQueen (talk) 09:16, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

10110 is 22 expressed in binary. As regards Jack's comment, it reminds me of W.C. Fields' comment to a guy who suffered from insomnia: "I know a good cure for that. Get plenty of sleep!" ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:25, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

What I meant was I don't find it funny that people crack jokes when someone is looking for a solid useful advice. --BorgQueen (talk) 13:31, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

Then there should be no jokes on the Ref Desks at all? Because most people who ask questions here are after "solid, useful advice". You've been around for about 7 years and you're an administrator, so you know how these pages work. It's always been considered OK to crack jokes, but there are conditions and limitations that need to be observed. Occasional fun in any workplace or gathering of humans is an important safety valve, as long as it doesn't overshadow the purpose of the gathering. Your question was no more or less important than the zillions of other questions we get here, and it is not immune from this. But I suppose naked queens are entitled to make an issue of whatever they like. -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ ^{[your turn]} 22:28, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

IMO you're overreacting a bit. Your question is neither pressing nor about a subject too serious for joking (like the child sex abuse question below). I usually wait until someone has provided an answer, but just couldn't resist the quip. If I've offended, I apologize. Clarityfiend (talk) 10:14, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

"Naked queens" is a play on the OP's name and their expressed liking for contributing while unclothed. On the best humour scale that I know (mine), I would give that only a C minus. It could have earned a C if it had been in small font and made more sense. The quip about Catch earns a good B+ because it is appropriately in small font, it implies both literary and mathematical references and it is formed as a question not directed to the OP. However it is unhelpful to disparage this OP's question as somehow less pressing than another question when they have come to us for help. DriveByWire (talk) 13:43, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

I wasn't disparaging the OP. I meant pressing in the sense of "needing an answer immediately". Clarityfiend (talk) 20:11, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

This has already got completely out of hand. Now the supposedly 12-year-old DriveByWire is high-handedly giving scores to various jokes, pontificating on what should and should not be in small font, and even ruining one quip by explaining it (even though it didn't need any explanation). Clumsy-footed as it is, it's still entering into the spirit of the jokey culture that has always been acceptable here (certainly for the 8 years I've been a regular). To close with support for Borq Queen's position that jokes are inappropriate therefore lacks credibility. -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ ^{[your turn]} 22:21, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

This is an excellent introductory work both accesible and rigorous: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Reasoning-Third-David-Kelley/dp/0393972135 μηδείς (talk) 04:48, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

Thank you! --BorgQueen (talk) 09:16, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

Again, it depends on where you want to go. I would not recommend Kelley's book, necessarily. this is a nice beginning with a good overview. If you take a beginning logic class in a philosophy department in the US, you're likely to be assigned either this or this (both can be found in older editions for cheap). A more rigorous introduction to symbolic logic is here, though this one's tougher to work through on one's own. If you think that the serious study of logic is not a joking matter (as you seem to above), then you'll want to avoid this (though of course, Lewis Carrol was himself a serious logician). Llamabr (talk) 14:07, 1 July 2012 (UTC)

A real classic, and still very readable, is Raymond Smullyan's First Order Logic. And it is available quite cheap even new. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 22:38, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

French cities with Dutch population

So far, I know that Dunkerque is a french city with Dutch population. Which other French cities that has a Dutch name because of its Dutch/Flemish speaking population or due to the fact they are next to the Belgian border? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.29.32.196 (talk) 18:49, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

See our article on French Flemish. --Pp.paul.4 (talk) 19:03, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

In Picardy, there are some areas of Flemish-speakers, but whether they consider themselves to be "Dutch" is another question.... AnonMoos (talk) 20:50, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

Alas, we do not inherit nationality or language genetically from ancestors 500 years ago, and there isn't a 1:1 relationship between language and nationality now (let alone historically), so national labels can provoke more questions than answers. Put a child in a "French" schoolroom and they will surely be Francophone; let them grow up in a German area and they may well become culturally German; and so on. "Dunkerque" may have dutch etymology but it's been part of France for long enough that an ever-larger propotion of locals act like, and consider themselves, French thanks to the homogenising effect within most modern countries. If you want to see other local demonyms with a "dutch" origin (although many of them may have acquired their name before the modern Dutch language blossomed on Europe's linguistic tree) then just look at the map. As well as the -kerque, look for placenames ending in -ghem, which has the same root as the German -heim. Alternatively, there are demonyms like Bergues. If you draw a line east from Boulogne, most would be north of that line. bobrayner (talk) 17:48, 1 July 2012 (UTC)