- cross-posted to:
- mop@quokk.au
- cross-posted to:
- mop@quokk.au
cross-posted from: https://quokk.au/c/mop/p/673691/it-s-over-50000
You must log in or # to comment.
This is imaginary numbers slander. Unlike capitalism, those are actually useful for physics and stuff.
Math terminology is so shitty sometimes.
The names in the number hierarchy are one of my favorite examples: natural, integer. rational, real, complex/imaginary. WTF? These terms are all misleading and completely removed from the underlying mathematical concepts. It’s terrible for math education, etc.
I would propose instead something like: counting numbers, negatives (?), fractions, number line, number plane… Or anything remotely equivalent, where the terms reflect the actual mathematics instead of some outdated, pseudo-scientific intuition.
“These numbers are real and these numbers are imaginary.” - Math still in the 21st century. It’s embarrassing. Symptomatic of wider rot in math education.
Physics and electrical engineering! Complex numbers are an elegant way to model reactive power, the key insight into developing power factor correction circuits which are a critical piece of electrical infrastructure without which our electrical grid would fail!
Quantum mechanics too, basically any process that has a periodic component with amplitude and phase
I mean sure living on a livable planet is cool and all, but have you considered number going up?
Oh shit i hadnt! Its really going too, isnt it?
We are governed by gambling addicts. Change my mind.
They aren’t imaginary, they just don’t mean anything. Not anything important anyway. It’s a measure of certain rich peoples’ rising or falling fortunes. They pick which group of rich people to represent in the number and that constantly changes.
Monetary value, which is what those numbers represent, is entirely imaginary. It doesn’t exist outside of social context, i.e. in our minds.
