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I guarantee that you have all performed, (or even wanted to perform) a Boolean Function of one sort or another yourselves. I will provide some real world examples that, while technically inaccurate, do give the flavor of the idea.

However to clarify things first, here's a simple-minded definition from a simple-minded artist: A Boolean function is simply the addition, subtraction or intersection of one volume from, or to, another.

So, the last time your computer went haywire and refused to do what you told it, you may have wanted to introduce it to your pal, the sledgehammer. -An intersection.

Or, (as I've been watching Japanese movies lately): Having failed his lord, the disgraced Samurai was required to perform a boolean on his intestines - A subtraction).

And of course, every time you physically glue one piece of a physical model to another, you have performed an addition.

Note that while these real world examples comically indicate the flavor of a virtual boolean function, in 3d geometry the separate volumes do indeed become one mathematical space indistinguishable from the source components (which themselves no longer exist afterwards). Real-world models glued together are not true boolean forms as they will always have a joint no matter how well glued. Now, if you could mush that joint seam together so that both parts did indeed become one indistinguishable form, that would be a true boolean function. But not even welding is a boolean function as there is still a seam. But takinga broken sword and reforging the pieces together is a boolean function as the steel is actually melted back together, forming a single object again.

Simple! (But not as scary sounding as that Bezier bastard was to me at first. He messed w/ my mind for the longest time!)

Hope that helps clarify things for the non-cg artist out there. And of course, anyone with better descriptions and modifications, please correct me!

I didn't notice a flame war myself. Real and virtual modeling are both loads of fun and complement each other quite nicely. As with each, once you have a few tools down and the basic concepts of how to proceed, you're rocking! Maya may look complex, but if all you're doing is modeling, there are like 3 tools and you can make anything. It just takes time.

But if you wanna have some fun straight out of the box as it were, look around for a copy of Mudbox. Even if you buy it, it's like $300. You start with a 'lump of clay' and push and pull it into shape. It's as close to real sculpting as you can get. And it's wicked fun.

Here's the most common mudbox demo going:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJvyItkKtdM
As you can see, he's using one tool to create the head. One finger is on the 'rotate/zoom view' key and the other is working the clay. Wicked fun.