Thursday, October 27, 2005
To Infinity and Beyond?
In July of 2001, Cecil Adams takes on a question that has been fought over for many years. It is a mathematical question that has to deal with infinity, a very difficult subject for the finite human mind to comprehend. The question is if 1/3 = .333 repeating, and 2/3 = .666 repeating, then why doesn’t 3/3 (= .999 repeating) truly equal 1? He begins by explaining that repeating decimals never terminate and therefore go on infinitely. Then he says that .999 repeating does actually equal 1 even though it seems that it may never get there. It seems that no matter what, if the repeating decimal is truncated at some digit, there will still be a difference between 1 and the decimal, however miniscule it is. However, that contradicts the idea of infinity. If the decimal itself is infinite, it can’t be truncated, that isn’t allowed by mathematical principles. Another example he gives is pi; the ever popular irrational number used in figuring out many things (circumference, area, etc…) about circles. It never repeats and therefore there is no true numerical representation of it. Only the symbol (π) does it justice.
Vivid words/phrases
One vivid word and phrase I chose came from Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. The vivid word is lackluster. I took this word from the sentence: “On a dark day, or a hazy one, everything’s washed out and lackluster but the water.” I took this word because I think it gives a great depiction of a dark and looming day. It’s a grey and dark word that sets a great tone. I chose the ending phrase “The breeze is the merest puff, but you yourself sail headlong and breathless under the gale force of the spirit”. I chose this because I think it gives great life to the words. It gives a flowing sense of freedom, which livens up the work. The other vivid word and phrase I chose are from Diane Ackerman’s An Alchemy of Mind. I chose the vivid word voluptuous, in the sentence “Its blunt as a skunk, and real gossip hound, but also voluptuous, clever, playful and forgiving.” I chose this vivid word because I think it has a great effect of giving the brain characteristics of a human. Even further it sounds almost sexual, and scandalous. It’s a female personification of something that is nothing like a woman. It’s a great effect and really sets off this sentence, and makes it appeal to me. I chose the phrase: “Sometimes it’s hard to imagine the art and beauty of the brain, because it seems too abstract and hidden an empire, a dense jungle of neurons. This phrase has two really good parts. First saying the brain is an “empire”. I think that’s a great word to describe the brain. The second is calling the brain a dense jungle of neurons. The word “jungle” is a great word that makes you think of the brain as a dense and unpredictable jungle. It has a great effect to bring life to the phrase.
No waiting!
In reaction to the quote about waiting, I would just like to start by saying that we live in a world where everything is instant. Our country is filled with “instant oil changes”, faster and faster internet connections, faster mailing solutions (fed-ex), e-mail (replacement of traditional mail), faster travel options (faster jets), microwaves, fast food (drive-thru), and many other things that make our lives easier by making us wait less and less. People have come to expect faster service and solutions, and less wait time. To every American, “time is money”, so time lost is money lost. They believe they have to do stuff constantly in order to be successful, or to get ahead (or not to get left behind). They are in a constant rat race to get ahead of the next guy in line.