ChapterZero

casu·ist·ry [kazh-oo-uh-stree]
-noun, plural -ries

1. specious, deceptive, or oversubtle reasoning, esp. in questions of morality; fallacious or dishonest application of general principles; sophistry.
2. in mathematics, the (intentional or unintentional) application of a combination of irrelevant but impressive theorems and general obfuscation by quantity and elevated language, in an attempt to fool or intimidate your TA and/or yourself into thinking you have solved a problem, when in fact you haven’t.

   Example: “What the hell? Where did C* algebras come into this?”

Possibly relevant posts:

• R6RS ratified (9/16/2007)
• Another chapter in the advisor search (10/10/2007)
• Progress Report (1/12/2004)