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Monday, Oct. 28, 2024

8:22am EDT

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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:

Elisa: Stik or Treat

about 22 hours ago
In response to "Revisited: "Stylish""

I admit I don't even hear the "like/comment subscribe" verbiage anymore, although it helps that I follow several channels that don't include it. That said, having heard directly from some YouTubers, they say that because it works much better than we like to admit. I'll be touching on this a bit in today's Watch This Space entry (which I'm trying to write in a way that soesn't require watching the video to understand without being too full of spoilers for those who want to watch it).

As for drama, I think there is an overlooked middle ground: interacting with people in a meaningful context and having conflict stemming from a drive to achieve a common goal. I get this from my job and my PAC work, and it helps me maintain conflict resolution skills,

1 Like

tj: Tenebrous Jekyll

a day ago
In response to "Moon Illusion"

I've witnessed this as the moon, and sun have risen and set. I've also heard many of the wrong explanations.

1 Like

Spirit HalloWaltz

a day ago
In response to "But What I Want Is Cheesecake"

Good points, Elisa: Stik or Treat

. I hadn't known about the influenza thing, because I don't follow that sort of content.

Elisa: Stik or Treat

a day ago
In response to "But What I Want Is Cheesecake"

I've been mulling over this for a bit, and I've come to the conclusion that I think both the original post and you miss a few points on this concept. The term "intuitive eating" is being both actively and passively pushed as a way to try to counterbalance influencers that are straight up promoting disordered eating. (Yes, I would consider long term adherence to some protein-heavy diets to be disordered eating, as it promotes an incomplete picture of nutrition and contributes to forms of body dysmorphia that emphasize muscle size and visibility.) The discussion of intuitive eating is done the way it is to try to get a lot of bullshit out of algorithms, and I can appreciate that kind of move.

There are also a few things I'd like to offer comment on from the entry.

Given how emotional this work can be, experts recommend working with a professional when possible.

Again... this kind of nullifies the "intuitive" part.

Not necessarily. I've talked with my counselor about intuition. Honestly, I'm starting to believe that intuition is different from instinct (i.e. a behavior programmed prior to birth/hatching). Intuition is more of an unconscious expression of past experience. Since experience is different from person to person, how one experiences hunger on an intuitive level is actually externally learned first THEN internally programmed. Since intuitive eating is essentially a reprogramming exercise, working with a professional is useful. It's especially needed for those recovering from disordered eating.

Recently, there has been renewed interest in an approach called “intuitive eating”, based on the idea that your body already knows exactly what it needs.

Yes, it absolutely does, and apparently, it "needs" to be overweight.

Going back to the intuition development principle I mentioned earlier, if you are introduced to and eat vegetables regularly, it's definitely possible to come to crave them. And this can happen for those on assistance programs, but again there are a lot of cultural factors involved. I remember reading an article years ago where for a lot of low income people vegetables needed to be introduced to them in a somewhat structured way in order for them to more actively take donated produce of any kind. And yes, there is more active work being done to get fresh produce being donated to food banks. The point is, it takes time and practice, but a person can come around to picking produce or prepared veggies over a baked good. I'm not sure how I managed to reach this point as a toddler, but let's just say after I threw a fit to get an orange over a donut my mom stopped complaining about peeling oranges.

Giving yourself permission to eat what you want may involve wrestling with how your culture’s foods might have been villainized by mainstream, white American culture, Johnson explains.

Oh, give me a fucking break. I get that it's fashionable to turn mainstream white American culture into the Bad Guy, but how about doing it by ragging on deep-fried butter with mayonnaise, or whatever culinary abomination came out of some Midwestern state fair this year?

Because the worst food demonization isn't coming out of the Midwest? I mean, at least with those food-like things we all kind of know it's meant to be a joke. Unfortunately, I think the worst of this demonization is coming from the coasts. Feel free to fight me on that one.

1 Like

Fearlycia Lee ☮

Oct 25, 2024 at 12:24pm
In response to "Pass da Pasta"

Eh? No. I don't put it in the boiling water. I drizzle them on the pasta itself.

1 Like

Spirit HalloWaltz

Oct 25, 2024 at 11:00am
In response to "Pass da Pasta"

Fearlycia Lee ☮

- maybe it is true. At worst, you just waste olive oil; I don't think oil in the water can do any real harm to anything but your wallet.

1 Like

Fearlycia Lee ☮

Oct 25, 2024 at 10:57am
In response to "Pass da Pasta"

I think #2 is true though. I had only started drizzling olive oil on my pasta two attempts ago and it's true. I never put olive oil on pasta and they stick all the time. Also, it doesn't help that I forgetful and forget to try this method until two attempts ago. Took me years to remember. Yup.

1 Like

Elisa: Stik or Treat

Oct 24, 2024 at 10:57am
In response to "A Winner's Tale"

I'm just glad to see reporting showing young adults can exercise responsibility and restraint.

2 Like

🌕 HuntersMoon

Oct 24, 2024 at 10:43am
In response to "A Winner's Tale"

No, Lilli Munster 🧿 ☕ 🎃, WINNING is the first step.

2 Like

Lilli Munster 🧿 ☕ 🎃

Oct 24, 2024 at 9:59am
In response to "A Winner's Tale"

Remaining anonymous is the first step.

4 Like

October 27, 2024 at 9:02am

#1079008

Revisited: "Stylish"

Almost four years ago, I wrote this entry in response to a 30DBC prompt: "Stylish"

The prompt was fairly long for a prompt, so the entry was fairly long for an entry. Prompt: "What is your blogging style? In your response, consider the following questions: What is your process of writing a blog entry - do you plan it out in advance, or just start writing? Who is your ideal reader? How did your unique blogging style emerge? Has your blog changed over time?"

Upon re-reading the entry, I was a bit disappointed that few of the answers would change between then and now. There's something to be said for consistency, but there's also something to be said for growth.

Yesterday, I made my habitual Monday foray to the local taphouse.

That's one thing that's changed. I still like that taphouse, but I don't go regularly anymore.

I sit outside, on their patio, because it's a better bet than dining indoors. There are no guarantees, of course, but the science points to a lower risk of Trump Mumps transmission if you're not inside.

This has changed, of course, because it's not 2020 anymore. As far as I know, I still haven't gotten Trump Mumps... but I've had a few bouts of cold-type illness, and never did bother getting tested.

None of which really has anything to do with the prompt, except to illustrate that I don't really plan out these entries, other than maybe giving them an hour or so of thought, usually while doing something else (in this case watching YouTube videos about science, philosophy, and the philosophy of science), and then, in the entry, I could write about almost anything.

My YouTube consumption has diminished since then, also. I despise ads, and they want to charge too much for no-ads. And even without ads, I got really weary of everyone telling me to "like and subscribe." Urging me to like, subscribe, comment, etc. is an absolutely certain way to ensure I never will.

I don't want to get tied down to any one subject, because so many things are interesting to me, and in the end, I'm not writing for any particular type of reader, but just to write.

That... wasn't exactly true then, and it's not exactly true now. It occurred to me several years ago that some of the best works of fiction were written, not with a particular demographic in mind, targeted to what market research suggests would be the most lucrative audience, but for an individual or small group of people. So, I imagine writing for one particular person. It's not always the same person. Still, it's not a lie; I don't write for a "type."

Thus, I really haven't tried to push myself into a "style." Sometimes I'm funny (or try to be; jury's still out), and sometimes I'm completely serious. Sometimes both at the same time. The problem there is I'm not sure anyone can tell the difference.

This bit hasn't changed.

When I started blogging, lo these many years ago, it was mostly about personal stuff, like the crap I started with today.

Clearly, I still do that when the situation warrants, like when I was traveling and had experiences to relate.

Obviously, I do still talk about personal shit sometimes, but I've arranged my life specifically to avoid drama, so very little happens to me that anyone else would consider interesting.

The downside of this is that when it does, I barely have the practice to handle it.

But writing isn't work. I suspect that if I ever made actual money from it, I'd probably start to consider it work and break out in hives.

Still true.

As I noted recently, I've managed to add an entry every day of this calendar year thus far, and I'm hoping to make it to December 31 (not that I'll stop then, but I do expect to take a couple of breaks next year).

Those breaks didn't happen, and I'm closing in on a five-year uninterrupted streak.

So, I guess, some things did change, but mostly things outside my control.

5 Like • Comment • View 1 comment

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