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[–] TheBuddha ago  (edited ago)

The absurdities of mathematics and the glorious nature of numerical deception and it's impact on modern culture and academia.

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[–] Lurker22 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

dam bro that's deep. I'd love to hear your speech on that! I thought only 75% of statistics are made up or something? hehehe

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[–] TheBuddha 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago 

0.3 doesn't actually equal 1/3. We pretend it does, much for the same reason that 0.999... = 1.

Shit breaks if we don't.

Yet, every time I mention I'm a mathematician, I have to worry about people insisting it is some great truth and universal. It's not. It's just a language and a philosophy. It's an expressive, beautiful, and wonderful language but it doesn't necessarily tell the truth. I can lie with math just as easily as I could lie with English. Depending on your knowledge, you may not even be able to spot the deception.

I never dealt with absolutes. I dealt with approximations and good enough. I dealt with models that predicted reality on a 'close enough' scale. It's not certainties and we've somehow convinced people to believe its the apex of understanding. It's hubris!

They are absolutely not going to let me talk. I'm a heretic. Those crazy bastards will tell you to your face that an infinite repeating number of nines equals one. That's absurd. But it does, and I can prove it with math.