Ask Your Eris?

[gnimbley]

I just think that using imaginary numbers to describe real phenomena
represents incomplete understanding of the phenomena. Either that
or God picked up this universe at a garage sale.

[LMNO]

The gnome's "garage sale" theory fits perfectly with these new equations I just pulled out of my ass!

[East Coast Hustle]

I was gonna make a hopefully interesting post buttressing my previous assertion with sources quoted and everything, but I cannot in good conscience participate in a serious scientific discussion once Shirley McClain's uber-whacko new-age retardo ass has been brought into the conversation.

sorry.

[LMNO]

I was thinking something along those same lines, actually.

Eldora should have stuck to The Dancing Wu-Li Mastres, instead.

[Eldora, Oracle of Alchemy]

Garage Sale, wouldn't surprize me.  The term imaginary number is probably on of the worst descriptions ever used.  Try to keep in mind that at one point negative numbers were imaginary.  Just because they are called imaginary, doesn't mean they don't exist.  If that was true, half the people on this forum would go poof in a whiff of smoke.

[LMNO]

As far as i understand it, an imaginary number does not cannot exist in the experiential world.

For example, you can't take a yardstick, and point to a spot that identifies the square root of negative 1.

Which makes it a pretty fucked up tool for explaining things that happen in the experiential universe.

[Bob the Mediocre]

:goes poof:

damnit, now I've gotta go get recorporealized. And I've got a physics test in a hour. Fuck, I'll really have to rush.

[Zurtok Khan]

*recorpalizes Altoid Addict with all of his parts except that ugly mole on his left ass cheek*

[East Coast Hustle]

hey!

where did this come from?!?

why is there a big ugly mole on my balls?!?!?

[Eldora, Oracle of Alchemy]

As far as i understand it, an imaginary number does not cannot exist in the experiential world.

For example, you can't take a yardstick, and point to a spot that identifies the square root of negative 1.

Which makes it a pretty fucked up tool for explaining things that happen in the experiential universe.

You also can't point to -1  
And, 0 is implied, but you can't point to it either.  

Zero as well as negative numbers were big advances when humans figured out how to use them.  Imaginary numbers aren't as imaginary as they seem.

[Guido Finucci]

I just think that using imaginary numbers to describe real phenomena represents incomplete understanding of the phenomena. Either that or God picked up this universe at a garage sale.

I am not a mathmetician. Not by a long shot. I may well be talking out of my arse here.

The way I hear it, imaginary numbers are orthogonal to real numbers and there are some things in the Universe that seem to need 'extra number dimensions' to explain them (more) completely. Or something. Someone tried ot explain it to me once but I may have been drunk at the time.

I agree -- real phenomena should be expressed with 'real' maths.

I disagree -- what is this 'Real' of which you speak?

I agree -- that garage sale theory has a whole lot of merit.

[Zurtok Khan]

*technically* I can show you a negative number.  If you set sea level as 0, then anything below that could be considered negative, but it still leaves a bit to be desired, I know.

[Eldora, Oracle of Alchemy]

I just think that using imaginary numbers to describe real phenomena represents incomplete understanding of the phenomena. Either that or God picked up this universe at a garage sale.

I am not a mathmetician. Not by a long shot. I may well be talking out of my arse here.

The way I hear it, imaginary numbers are orthogonal to real numbers and there are some things in the Universe that seem to need 'extra number dimensions' to explain them (more) completely. Or something. Someone tried ot explain it to me once but I may have been drunk at the time.

I agree -- real phenomena should be expressed with 'real' maths.

I disagree -- what is this 'Real' of which you speak?

I agree -- that garage sale theory has a whole lot of merit.

And fractals look pretty but they also explain real world stuff, like weather patterns, population distributions, mechanical thingys, but it's too early and I haven't had my coffee.  BTW, + a bazillion points for using orthogonal in a sentence

[Horab Fibslager]

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/michelllle/fractals/therest.html
Michelle's Fractal Art

[Bob the Mediocre]

*recorpalizes Altoid Addict with all of his parts except that ugly mole on his left ass cheek*

Damnit, why didn't you get rid of that wart too?