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Re: The Reason Why Tau Is Fundamental And Why Pi Is Not
Posted:
Jan 7, 2013 3:00 PM
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Kaba <kaba@nowhere.com> writes:
> 6.1.2013 22:47, Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz wrote:
>> In <kccd4o$1up$1@news.cc.tut.fi>, on 01/06/2013
>> at 07:44 PM, Kaba <kaba@nowhere.com> said:
>>
>>> Just a guess: what's your browser and its version?
>>
>> It's pretty old; FF 3.5.3. My next OS upgrade will include a new FF; I
>> have mixed feelings about that.
>>
>> I did notice that the article talked about a conspiracy, which is
>> always a red flag, and that it used nonstandard nomenclature.
>
> I agree that's a red flag in general, as everything which includes
> subjective feelings in an objective subject. Since the writer is a
> scientist (a physicist), though, it seems to me that the text has
> intentionally been written to appeal to a non-scientific audience, with
> the intent of maximizing its spread.
>
> Usually I'm irritated by someone slipping in his own feelings about
> whatever he is writing about, since that, in my experience, is an
> indication of ignorance. Every new idea feels exciting at first, but
> after mastering it, it starts to feel neutral. In the other way, if
> something feels exciting, then you probably don't have much experience
> on it. In particular, I think that the excitement on the unknown is
> nature's way of driving humans to explore ever new things.
>
> Some people choose to spend much of their time in an intentional state
> of ignorance, enjoying the mystery, all the while not recognizing it as
> ignorance.
>
> That said, in my opinion the article makes a good case in favor of
> adopting tau instead of pi. The mathematics is anyway objective, even if
> described subjectively.
It's all a matter of convention. Whether, as it happens, it's somewhat
more convenient to use 2pi as a constant, rather than pi, surely is one
of the least interesting mathematical points one can make, barely better
than insisting that the numeral seven ought to have a crossbar to better
distinguish it from one.
--
Jesse F. Hughes
"Of course, my ability to admit my mistakes and correct them is a
trait that many of you seem to never have properly appreciated."
-- JSH, discussing his 1463rd "proof" of Fermat's Last Theorem.
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