off topic but please forgive me me and answer
in [Python]
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From: Patrick Maupin on 2 Apr 2010 22:06 On Apr 2, 8:29 pm, Mensanator <mensana...(a)aol.com> wrote: > Don't you know how Usenet works? No, but my cat does.
From: superpollo on 3 Apr 2010 09:00 Patrick Maupin ha scritto: > On Apr 2, 2:41 pm, Andreas Waldenburger <use...(a)geekmail.INVALID> > wrote: > >> While everyone else is mocking you: Can you please elaborate on why you >> want to know and what kind of problem you're trying to solve with this? >> Also, don't you think you should have picked a maths forum for this >> kind of question? > > Methinks the OP is fluent in the way of choosing newsgroups. > According to google, he has posted 6855 messages in 213 groups. > > http://groups.google.com/groups/profile?enc_user=ul3SQhIAAAAYmLD0Oj5Yxp-liP3Vw9uApbyajUBv9M9XLUB2gqkZmQ > > And I can't speak for anybody else, but I just assumed it was an April > Fool's question. I meant to be laughing with the OP, not at him, so > sorry if I misunderstood. no no you understood prfectly *but* the thing is i am a regular in an italian language math ng which is haunted by a crackpot who insists that 1/2 * 1/2 cannot be 1/4, "because multiplication means getting bigger", so i took a semi-serious stance and made a few posts as a statistical tentative to "convince" said crackpot that the world is not going crazy (but maybe he is) thanks ps: note that my nickname is not unique, and there are a few people whith the same one... and i didn't ever post using googlegroups
From: Mensanator on 3 Apr 2010 09:37 On Apr 3, 8:00 am, superpollo <ute...(a)esempio.net> wrote: > Patrick Maupin ha scritto: > > > > > > > On Apr 2, 2:41 pm, Andreas Waldenburger <use...(a)geekmail.INVALID> > > wrote: > > >> While everyone else is mocking you: Can you please elaborate on why you > >> want to know and what kind of problem you're trying to solve with this? > >> Also, don't you think you should have picked a maths forum for this > >> kind of question? > > > Methinks the OP is fluent in the way of choosing newsgroups. > > According to google, he has posted 6855 messages in 213 groups. > > >http://groups.google.com/groups/profile?enc_user=ul3SQhIAAAAYmLD0Oj5Y.... > > > And I can't speak for anybody else, but I just assumed it was an April > > Fool's question. I meant to be laughing with the OP, not at him, so > > sorry if I misunderstood. > > no no you understood prfectly *but* the thing is i am a regular in an > italian language math ng which is haunted by a crackpot who insists that > 1/2 * 1/2 cannot be 1/4, "because multiplication means getting bigger", > so i took a semi-serious stance and made a few posts as a statistical > tentative to "convince" said crackpot that the world is not going crazy > (but maybe he is) I seriously doubt your crackpot friend actually believes that. Probably more troll than crackpot. Showing him articles and programs that prove your premise will accomplish nothing. However, if you personally wanted information on programming with rational numbers, you came to the right place. > > thanks > > ps: note that my nickname is not unique, and there are a few people > whith the same one... and i didn't ever post using googlegroups What does it mean, "super chicken?
From: Steve Holden on 3 Apr 2010 09:38 superpollo wrote: > Patrick Maupin ha scritto: >> On Apr 2, 2:41 pm, Andreas Waldenburger <use...(a)geekmail.INVALID> >> wrote: >> >>> While everyone else is mocking you: Can you please elaborate on why you >>> want to know and what kind of problem you're trying to solve with this? >>> Also, don't you think you should have picked a maths forum for this >>> kind of question? >> >> Methinks the OP is fluent in the way of choosing newsgroups. >> According to google, he has posted 6855 messages in 213 groups. >> >> http://groups.google.com/groups/profile?enc_user=ul3SQhIAAAAYmLD0Oj5Yxp-liP3Vw9uApbyajUBv9M9XLUB2gqkZmQ >> >> >> And I can't speak for anybody else, but I just assumed it was an April >> Fool's question. I meant to be laughing with the OP, not at him, so >> sorry if I misunderstood. > > no no you understood prfectly *but* the thing is i am a regular in an > italian language math ng which is haunted by a crackpot who insists that > 1/2 * 1/2 cannot be 1/4, "because multiplication means getting bigger", > so i took a semi-serious stance and made a few posts as a statistical > tentative to "convince" said crackpot that the world is not going crazy > (but maybe he is) > > thanks > > ps: note that my nickname is not unique, and there are a few people > whith the same one... and i didn't ever post using googlegroups If you think you will persuade a crackpot to drop his lunacy by logical argument you are clearly an optimist of the first water. But since I like a challenge (and bearing in mind this is OT so I don't claim to be an expert) you might try first of all persuading him to agree to the commutativity of multiplication (i.e. x * y == y * x for any x and y). If he agrees to that, then get him to agree that x * 1 == x for any x. If he agrees to that, then set x = 1/2 and see if he'll agree that 1/2 * 1 == 1/2. If he does, then surely he must also agree that 1 * 1/2 == 1/2, i.e. multiplication can indeed "make things smaller". Good luck, though. Crackpots aren't generally responsive to appeals to rational thinking. regards Steve -- Steve Holden +1 571 484 6266 +1 800 494 3119 See PyCon Talks from Atlanta 2010 http://pycon.blip.tv/ Holden Web LLC http://www.holdenweb.com/ UPCOMING EVENTS: http://holdenweb.eventbrite.com/
From: superpollo on 3 Apr 2010 10:26
Steve Holden ha scritto: > superpollo wrote: >> Patrick Maupin ha scritto: >>> On Apr 2, 2:41 pm, Andreas Waldenburger <use...(a)geekmail.INVALID> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> While everyone else is mocking you: Can you please elaborate on why you >>>> want to know and what kind of problem you're trying to solve with this? >>>> Also, don't you think you should have picked a maths forum for this >>>> kind of question? >>> Methinks the OP is fluent in the way of choosing newsgroups. >>> According to google, he has posted 6855 messages in 213 groups. >>> >>> http://groups.google.com/groups/profile?enc_user=ul3SQhIAAAAYmLD0Oj5Yxp-liP3Vw9uApbyajUBv9M9XLUB2gqkZmQ >>> >>> >>> And I can't speak for anybody else, but I just assumed it was an April >>> Fool's question. I meant to be laughing with the OP, not at him, so >>> sorry if I misunderstood. >> no no you understood prfectly *but* the thing is i am a regular in an >> italian language math ng which is haunted by a crackpot who insists that >> 1/2 * 1/2 cannot be 1/4, "because multiplication means getting bigger", >> so i took a semi-serious stance and made a few posts as a statistical >> tentative to "convince" said crackpot that the world is not going crazy >> (but maybe he is) >> >> thanks >> >> ps: note that my nickname is not unique, and there are a few people >> whith the same one... and i didn't ever post using googlegroups > > If you think you will persuade a crackpot to drop his lunacy by logical > argument you are clearly an optimist of the first water. But since I > like a challenge (and bearing in mind this is OT so I don't claim to be > an expert) you might try first of all persuading him to agree to the > commutativity of multiplication (i.e. x * y == y * x for any x and y). > > If he agrees to that, then get him to agree that x * 1 == x for any x. > > If he agrees to that he does not, since "you cannot multiply something, and not getting some more of it" ... he is stuck with the latin etimology of "multiply" ("multiplicare" means "increase quantity", like in the fish and bread miracle) |