Search where?

This Portfolio (cathartes02)

All of Writing.Com

◄ December ► 2019
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31
Archive				RSS

Offsite Blogs

· Waltz Travel Blog

Create New Item

Read & Review

Community

Browse By Type

Browse By Genre

Writing Resources

Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024

10:38pm EDT

Members: 957

Guests: 2,772

Total Online: 3,729

Complex Numbers

by Spirit HalloWaltz

Rated: 18+ · Book · Personal · #1196512

Not for the faint of art.

Complex Numbers

A complex number is expressed in the standard form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is defined by i^2 = -1 (that is, i is the square root of -1). For example, 3 + 2i is a complex number.

The bi term is often referred to as an imaginary number (though this may be misleading, as it is no more "imaginary" than the symbolic abstractions we know as the "real" numbers). Thus, every complex number has a real part, a, and an imaginary part, bi.

Complex numbers are often represented on a graph known as the "complex plane," where the horizontal axis represents the infinity of real numbers, and the vertical axis represents the infinity of imaginary numbers. Thus, each complex number has a unique representation on the complex plane: some closer to real; others, more imaginary. If a = b, the number is equal parts real and imaginary.

Very simple transformations applied to numbers in the complex plane can lead to fractal structures of enormous intricacy and astonishing beauty.

http://www.ddewey.net/mandelbrot/

Signature for Honorable Mentions in 2018 Quill Awards

A signature for exclusive use of winners at the 2019 Quill Awards

Signature for those who have won a Quill Award at the 2020 Quill Awards

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

tj: Tenebrous Jekyll

about 5 hours ago
In response to "Phases"

Perhaps, if the full moon drives one to madness, the half moon will only make one half-crazy.

1 Like

Battywyn🎶

Oct 29, 2024 at 12:18pm
In response to "The Numbers Don't Lie"

I hear ya. I like to think I'm discerning enough to detect fakes, but that might just be my ego talking. When it comes to local businesses, I also go to social media and request recommendations. With both reviews from strangers and recommendations from friends, I give more credence when more (anecdotal, heh) details are provided. It's more an art than science, but liars either have such flawless details that their story sounds fabricated, or they get embarrassed when they trip themselves up. Truthtellers make errors, because memories are fallible, but they get more confused than embarrassed. Ultimately, the only way to really know is to try the product/service yourself. Which is why you'll hear about my Cancun vacation next month, but you don't have to believe me.

1 Like

Spirit HalloWaltz

Oct 29, 2024 at 11:07am
In response to "The Numbers Don't Lie"

Battywyn🎶

- I, too, look at the 1-star reviews, though again, reviews aren't my sole criteria. But sometimes it's blatant fake reviewing from the competition: "Don't stay here! It has rats, bedbugs, and roaches! Stay at this other place instead!" where "this other place" is clearly owned by the reviewer.

On the other paw, five-star reviews are often salted by the establishment in question.

Used to be, you could look at the four- and two- star reviews to get more honest, nuanced opinions, but the establishments, and their competition, have figured out that trick.

Which is one reason why reviews aren't my sole criteria.

(None of this applies to WDC reviews, or to the artificially inflated Uber rating system)

Battywyn🎶

Oct 29, 2024 at 11:00am
In response to "The Numbers Don't Lie"

And I was going to conclude by saying, when evaluating Caribbean vacation destinations, even if 5,000 people gave it a 4.8 rating, if the one star reviews were from seven people who encountered rats in their rooms, I'm very likely to not choose this destination.

2 Like

Battywyn🎶

Oct 29, 2024 at 10:58am
In response to "The Numbers Don't Lie"

Well, that was annoying. I was still in the process of editing, so please excuse the multitude of errors. I also intended to italicize the quotes from your post. Stupid f****** Parkinson's.

1 Like

Battywyn🎶

Oct 29, 2024 at 10:56am
In response to "The Numbers Don't Lie"

You know what sometimes lies? Anecdotes.

Also, dogs, I've heard.

Oh, hell no.

🤣 I love a good inside joke, but my marketing guru would tell you to cross link here

The fallacy is named after Robert McNamara, the U.S. Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War, where his over-reliance on measurable data led to several misguided strategies

Bet he's proud of his claim to fame.

What's the point in data, then?

The point in data is a decimal separator, unless here in non-english speaking countries, in which case it's more likely a thousands separator.

So, whenever I'm evaluating online reviews for pretty much anything, and for the record I check them for almost everything - I always consider three things: 1. The average rating (eg, number of stars); 2. The The number of contributors to the rating; and three. What the one star ratings say.

1 Like

Annette

Oct 28, 2024 at 2:47pm
In response to "Waste Not"

In Southern California, every single family residence has a green bin. Every trash day, three different trucks make the rounds.

1 for composting
1 for recycling
1 for garbage

Trader Joe's sells almost exclusively packaged foods, even perishables. They have contracts with college food pantries. In many colleges, there are now pantries that are open to the students 4 or 5 days a week plus 1 day when people from the community can drive up and receive a bag with a mix of fresh fruits and vegetables along with non-perishable foods and donated sundries.

Churches are huge food redistribution centers also.

The "too hard to set up" systems have created good jobs here. Instead of seeing food donations as a liability, they have created a supervised and refrigerated second market.

The cost for employees is small because, of course, many of the positions are volunteers. But the supervisors and some of the staff are full time employees with benefits.

The article has thrown up obstacles that are easy to overcome.

3 Like

AnotherDreamer

Oct 28, 2024 at 11:33am
In response to "Waste Not"

https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6156cebc4c605e281289a232/6156cebc4c605eb8bc89... e%20for%20beginners%2024%2009%2018.pdf

1 Like

Spirit HalloWaltz

Oct 28, 2024 at 11:33am
In response to "Waste Not"

AnotherDreamer

- Hey, it's a replicator from Star Trek!

Now let's invent the holodeck.

2 Like

AnotherDreamer

Oct 28, 2024 at 11:27am
In response to "Waste Not"

We the people of the world could use those products before they are compost as free sources for 3D printed foods that could be used for emergency food, or if tasty enough, re sold.https://builtin.com/articles/3d-printed-food

2 Like

December 16, 2019 at 12:40am

#971532

I'm Not Kidding

As certain as I may seem to be about some things, there's always at least a seed of uncertainty. In some cases, it's more of a sapling, or even a massive tree. So with today's link, I'm eschewing snark and a lot of my usual opinions, and mostly just throwing it out there as food for thought. Yes, I know it's an old article, but the points it brings up are still applicable, given the proliferation of mass shootings in recent times.

http://nautil.us/issue/2/uncertainty/parenthood-the-great-moral-gamble

Parenthood, the Great Moral Gamble

The decision to have a child is more ethically uncertain than you might realize.

So far, I'm in agreement. Parenthood is, in our age, a choice. It's one that I decided on a long time ago: that I did not want to father a child.

I should note, as an aside, that almost every article or think-piece I've ever seen on the choice of parenthood is written from a woman's perspective - this one included. Rarely is a man's opinion on the matter sought or appreciated. I'm aware that there are many men out there who desperately want (or wanted) to become fathers; my own father was one of them (one thing an adopted person can usually say with certainty: I was wanted). I'm also aware that many other men run from the responsibility, and leave the child and its mother in a difficult situation. I don't think much of those men. While I didn't want children, if one fell into my lap (so to speak), I'd accept my share of the responsibility. I don't consider it irresponsible to avoid making that decision in the first place.

Anyway, back to the article. It touches on some philosophical points I encountered recently in another context: that of moral luck, and the dichotomy between intention-based and outcome-based judgements.

I didn’t choose to have a child. Not if “choosing” means something rational—weighing pros and cons, coming to a conclusion. I tried that process but ran away from it because, even though I wanted a child, it seemed to me that creating a whole new person was such an enormity that no one could rationally decide to do such a thing.

English is a funny thing. "I didn't choose to have a child" is, on the surface, semantically equivalent to "I chose not to have a child," but the implications are very different. Later in the article, she clarifies exactly what she meant.

The child might bring happiness to others, or he might ruin people’s lives. It seemed to me that creating life was an act of astonishing hubris because it made me responsible, maybe morally responsible, for huge consequences.

I gotta be honest, here: the moral responsibility issue wasn't a big part of my thought process when I decided I didn't want to be a father. Not that it was something that happened overnight. I didn't wake up one morning and go, "You know what? I don't want to have a kid." It was more of a gradual realization. Lots of considerations went into it, not the least of which was plain laziness; I saw what other men were going through and I didn't want any part of it.

And yet, while it wasn't a big part of my thought process, it was a part of it nonetheless - even though, at the time, I probably couldn't have expressed exactly what I felt about the repercussions. This article does that.

It's a long article and I'm not going to quote much more from it, but it's worth reading, in my opinion (obviously, or I wouldn't have bothered with it).

I'm just going to touch on one of my major bugaboos whenever this sort of discussion comes up:

Cushman speculates that we have a basic instinct to punish bad outcomes arising from a period in our evolutionary history when we were not able to communicate intention reliably, and the best way to encourage pro-social behavior was to punish harm and reward benefit, whether accidental or not.

Can we stop with the fucking evolutionary psychology already? Even if it did matter where our behaviors originated 'way back when, we simply don't have the data to do any more than what the first verb in that sentence says: speculate.

Some years ago, I read a book written (ostensibly; there may have been a ghost) by Jeffrey Dahmer's father. As I'm sure everyone recalls, Dahmer was a notorious serial killer and cannibal who, once caught and incarcerated, died in prison. It's been a long time, so I don't really remember if the senior Dahmer took any responsibility for his son's actions, whether deserved or not.

I think a lot of prospective parents think, if they think about it at all, "maybe my kid will grow up to be the next Einstein." (Or insert someone else glorious in Al's place.) No one I know thinks, "what if the kid grows up to be the next Dahmer?" This is a cognitive bias; one of optimism, perhaps. I'm pretty sure you have about the same number of people with major positive contributions to the world as major negative ones, so the chance is about equal. And there's a far greater chance that the kid would grow up to be just another cog in the machine, probably then begetting more cogs in the machine.

In other words, there's a far greater chance of not winning the lottery than there is of winning it, or of getting hit by lightning.

I chose not to play that lottery.

I don't want to give the impression that I'm judging others' choices. I'm not. But I feel like, in a society as parent-centric as ours is, sometimes I have to justify my decision to others - I've already justified it to myself. Parents, on the other hand, are almost never asked, even implicitly, "what made you decide to have children?" It's just assumed.

That assumption - not an individual's choices - is what I challenge.

3 Like • Comment • View 3 comments

© Copyright 2024 Spirit HalloWaltz (UN: cathartes02 at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Spirit HalloWaltz has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.

Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/profile/blog/cathartes02/day/12-16-2019