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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.
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What’s on your mind right now? Do you have any “brain worms” or current obsessions? If you didn’t have to blog right now, what would you be doing?
I'm sure some people would say that my brain is entirely worms.
But no, I'm mostly just alternating between casually playing video games, finding funny shit on the internet, honing my snark, and watching Season 3 of Stranger Things.
I can't seem to binge-watch like normal people. Even when I was working on catching up on Supernatural or Stargate, I couldn't usually do more than one or two episodes a day. Sometimes, I'd even get squirreled partway through one and shift to snark-honing or game-playing.
In short, my attention span is similar to that of a goldfish, even when it comes to things I nominally enjoy doing.
It's not like this is new for me. No matter what I'm doing, there's always something I'd rather be doing. This was a problem when I had an office job; now, not so much.
Driving helps. It's not like I can split my attention while driving. By taking away the option of doing other things, I get in a focus zone. It's where I do my best thinking, at least if the traffic isn't too crazy.
This is probably why I have several unedited novels languishing on my flash drive (and here). While I can concentrate long enough to come up with short stories or poetry (and, on good days, blog entries), I get to working on the novels and my mind starts to worm around.
Maybe when the next Fallout or Elder Scrolls game comes out (do not speak to me of Fallout 76; as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't exist) I'll go back to being able to do one thing for more than 30 minutes. Not anything productive, mind you, but something.
So, basically, everything is either a) a distraction or b) an obsession. There doesn't seem to be much in between. If this caused me real problems in life, I'd probably try to do something about it. My main focus right now is on weight loss, though, and disturbing my hard-won equilibrium might have a negative (or, I guess, positive, as in the numbers on the scale going up instead of down) effect on that goal.
Fortunately, that's not something I need to concentrate on constantly. I just need to stop myself from ordering pizza or bingeing on Oreos, and in that regard, distractions help.
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