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Complex Numbers
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.
January 24, 2022 at 12:04am January 24, 2022 at 12:04am
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And another one I can't fully answer from "JAFBG" [XGC]... but I'm going to try anyway.
Channel your inner Seinfeld and tell us the most petty reason you've broken up with someone or lost interest in dating them.
I don't know, because I haven't broken up with, or dated, anyone except my most recent ex-wife since Seinfeld was originally on TV (you don't want to know how long ago that was; it was longer than you think and you'll feel old). I wasn't the one doing the breaking-up, usually, and the few times I did the reasons were eminently justifiable and not at all petty.
No, really.
No. Really. Stop laughing.
(Stupid canned laugh track.)
There was one time in the 90s when I dated this one chick, briefly. She was nice but incurious, and desperately wanted children while I desperately didn't. But that wasn't why I broke up with her (I was just very, very careful to never let the condoms out of my possession).
No, I broke up with her because she declawed her cats.
Like I said, not a petty reason. Though some might find it to be so. She certainly did. I consider it to be an inexcusable, barbaric practice which usually only serves to protect one's precious, precious furniture.
There are other ways to protect the furniture besides mutilating cats. And even if there weren't, a living thing's welfare is almost always more important than that of furniture. (One exception: cockroaches.)
It's not that I didn't know her cats were declawed when we started getting serious. It's just that I wasn't aware, at first, of how horrible it was, thinking it was only slightly bad and you just couldn't let the cats outside, which wasn't an issue for her at the time because she lived in an apartment. The internet was in its nascent stages back then, populated mostly just by nerds like me -- long before Failbook, before Wikipedia, even before WDC. (Did you know Writing.com predated Wikipedia? By about four months. Now you do.) But I started digging around on there and became appalled.
There really wasn't anything I could do about the poor kitties. She treated them well enough otherwise, and unlike in civilized countries, declawing isn't illegal in the US. But I just couldn't see the relationship going anywhere because a) I will always have cats, b) I will never have them declawed, and c) that was all I needed to know about her priorities.
And don't get me wrong -- I may be a little judgey on this subject, but I never hated her for it; I wished her well and moved on. She wasn't so cool with the breakup, though, so, unlike with most of my exes, I have no idea where she is or what she's doing (but I am certain based on discussions with mutual friends that the condoms, indeed, worked as designed). Since it's been about 25 years, the cats in question have long since gone to meet Bast. It was simply a sign for me that we were, ultimately, incompatible.
Hell, if she got what she wanted in life, she's got fully grown kids by now. I just hope she didn't declaw them, too. |
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