Comments for Discrete Ideas

Comment on Mom was right by Victoria Adams

Victoria Adams — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:48:50 +0000

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Comment on Alternative Math Methods by Victoria Adams

Victoria Adams — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:09:03 +0000

Comment on Mom was right by studio2m

studio2m — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 00:59:40 +0000

mathematicaly speaking we can not write X=0.9999…(repeating to infinity). But we can write X=~0.999…(repeating to infinity).(i.e: X nearly equal to 0.999…).

So if we rewrite your second demonstration, we have:
X =~ 0.99999999…
10X =~ 9.99999999…
Subtract the first row from the second: 9X = 9
Now divide both sides by 9: X = 1

then we have 1 =~ (nearly equal to) 0.999… (repeating to infinity), which is true.

Comment on Classical Geek jokes by mookiemu

mookiemu — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 14:54:16 +0000

A geek pick-up line:
I’m sine, you’re cosine, together we are one.

Comment on Classical Geek jokes by Derekd

Derekd — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 10:50:43 +0000

Fractal Fairy Tale

A young married couple of five years decided to seek counseling in order to improve their communication.
After a few sessions the Dr. figured it was time to employ Rorschach.
At the second session of looking at images, things started to reverse from their previous successes.
The following conversation took place;

Doctor: Mary, tell me what you see here.
Mary: I see two swans that are very fond of each other.
Doctor: Very good. John, tell us what you see.
John: I see the Mandelbrot set.
Mary: See what I mean, Doctor?
Doctor: Yes, we are making progress. He used to see Maxwell’s Demon.

Comment on Mom was right by The Count

The Count — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 23:10:38 +0000

All very true. I’m in software, and recently had to tell someone “100% reliability is like infinity, it’s a concept, not a number”.

Comment on Mom was right by Rich

Rich — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 23:07:49 +0000

This argument is a classic, and the bottom line is that we have to accept the existence of .9 (or .3) repeating to infinity as the premise in order to agree. The problem is that .3 or .9 repeating is an approximation that approaches 1/3 or 1 depending on the level of precision that you are contemplating. Remember that infinity is a very large number, especially towards the end. I propose that .9 repeating (or any number repeating) is a human accepted shorthand to reconcile the incompatibility of base 10 numbering and dividing certain numbers by 3. We simply “know” that 1/3 is .3 repeating.

The problem with infinity is that you can never actually get there. The difference between .9 repeating and 1 is that the value of 1 doesn’t change as you contemplate it at different levels of precision. Infinity is to math and physics as Hitler is to politics. Once you go there you’ve already lost the argument.

Comment on Classical Geek jokes by The Count

The Count — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 23:15:54 +0000

I do! You’re right, it is harder to get just by hearing it, but the only people I know who would get it can also do that stuff in their heads.

Comment on Classical Geek jokes by Bruce Harrison

Bruce Harrison — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 22:14:45 +0000

“Q: Why do computer programmers confuse Halloween and Christmas?
A: Because 31 Oct = 25 Dec.”

This is also an example of a visual joke. Try telling it (:

Comment on Fractured Memories by The Count

The Count — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 05:16:03 +0000

@Neil,

Right you are! Fixing now.