About This Author
Come closer.
|
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.
November 29, 2021 at 12:02am November 29, 2021 at 12:02am
|
If you don't have regrets, you're doing it wrong.
PROMPT November 29th
Imagine for a moment that you are near the end of your life. What do you want to have done that would make you feel satisfied?
What do you mean, "imagine?"
Everyone has some regrets, I think. Not necessarily the mind-consuming ones like "Oh, I shouldn't have jumped off that cliff, plunging me into a lifetime of pain," but little things, like "I really should have asked her out," or "Damn, I should have had the lasagna instead."
Nothing wrong with having regrets; I just think it's counterproductive to dwell on them for too long.
Like, one thing I wish I'd done when I could was see the Roger Waters version of Pink Floyd in concert (or any Pink Floyd, really). Or Led Zeppelin. Both of those eras ended when I was in high school, though, so it's not like I had a whole lot of agency in the matter. But I don't live my life thinking every day about how awesome that would have been. Besides, I have seen other performers that I like, and I'd rather remember those than the might-have-beens.
But with the use of the future perfect in the prompt, I think the intent is: what do I want to do between now and my inevitable embarrassing demise that would make me feel satisfied before I kick it?
Well, other than having a romantic interlude with Halle Berry, which ain't gonna happen; or maybe finding the Fountain of Youth, which is marginally more likely... really, not much. Some traveling, if things would fucking settle down. I've done much of what I'd set out to do, and I'm fine with what few regrets I have. (Occasionally you'll see me making references to having lived my life toiling in the regrettium mines of Regrettistan, but that's for humorous effect and not to be taken seriously.)
So, no, I'm good. I'm pretty damn satisfied. Smug, even. Yes, I'm insufferable (you think that's bad, try having beers with me). It's not like there aren't things I still want to do, but that would be the case even if I lived until the heat death of the Universe.
And no, I have no reason to believe I'm actually near the end of my life. But I have no reason not to believe it, either. |
© Copyright 2024 Robert Waltz (UN: cathartes02 at Writing.Com). All rights reserved. Robert Waltz has granted InkSpot.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
|