Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!purdue!bu-cs!bloom-beacon!athena.mit.edu!tuna
From: tuna@athena.mit.edu (Kirk 'UhOh' Johnson)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: Tangents to three circles
Message-ID: <13722@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>
Date: 22 Aug 89 17:51:22 GMT
References: <11391@polya.Stanford.EDU> <902@mrsvr.UUCP>
Sender: daemon@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU
Reply-To: tuna@athena.mit.edu (Kirk 'UhOh' Johnson)
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lines: 18

In article <902@mrsvr.UUCP> hallett@shoreland.UUCP (Jeff Hallett x4-6328) writes:
>
>As far as counterexamples go, they are worthwhile when they lead to a
>solution of the original problem.  I think that this is the crucial
>part missing from the previous poster's tirade.  Just demonstrating
>counterexamples, without any other useful information, is demeaning to
>someone who may already feel sheepish about asking publicly in the
>first place.
>

i'm sorry, but i completely disagree. i saw both your original posting
and the followup which you think was demeaning. by presenting a
counterexample, the author of that followup could well have been
trying to ensure that they were visualizing the same problem you were
or something like that. in any case, i seriously doubt anybody was
trying to belittle you.

kirk