Wednesday, March 14, 2007
The Cult of Pi
(2)
I'm learning to vet this stuff from a more sober point of view before publishing. Thus, the previous post (#1) below was written last week but did not make the cut at sober review time. I've made slight modifications and published it tonight, now that I have a follow-up. The advantage of this procedure is obvious: I don't sound so nutty. But the downside is that it is a form of self-censorship verging almost on deception: (I was drunk but I cleaned it up.)(taps)
To continue with the theme of the previous post:
Today (3-14) is Pi day, and 1:59 pm this afternoon was Pi minute. Pi second occured 3 point 15926... seconds later. Welcome to the Cult of Pi. I have Cosmic Log to thank for the associated links. ABC News also had a fun blurb commemorating today's event. Fittingly enough, today is also Einstein's birthday.
Does the Pi sequence contain your favorite number? Of course it does, because it is an infinite sequence. Or does it? How long is your favorite number? Does an infinite irrational sequence contain within itself all possible number sequences? I doubt it but you would be better served by consulting a mathematician on this question. It seems to me as I write this that the question tends to refute the very notion of Infinity. But I've had four+ beers already. Beer can refute anything!
Do you want to play with Pi? Go for it. I looked up my favorite telephone number, of course (666). Yep, it's there. If yours is not there, take heart: the site contains only the first 200 million digits.
I'm learning to vet this stuff from a more sober point of view before publishing. Thus, the previous post (#1) below was written last week but did not make the cut at sober review time. I've made slight modifications and published it tonight, now that I have a follow-up. The advantage of this procedure is obvious: I don't sound so nutty. But the downside is that it is a form of self-censorship verging almost on deception: (I was drunk but I cleaned it up.)(taps)
To continue with the theme of the previous post:
Today (3-14) is Pi day, and 1:59 pm this afternoon was Pi minute. Pi second occured 3 point 15926... seconds later. Welcome to the Cult of Pi. I have Cosmic Log to thank for the associated links. ABC News also had a fun blurb commemorating today's event. Fittingly enough, today is also Einstein's birthday.
Does the Pi sequence contain your favorite number? Of course it does, because it is an infinite sequence. Or does it? How long is your favorite number? Does an infinite irrational sequence contain within itself all possible number sequences? I doubt it but you would be better served by consulting a mathematician on this question. It seems to me as I write this that the question tends to refute the very notion of Infinity. But I've had four+ beers already. Beer can refute anything!
Do you want to play with Pi? Go for it. I looked up my favorite telephone number, of course (666). Yep, it's there. If yours is not there, take heart: the site contains only the first 200 million digits.
