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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.
September 24, 2019 at 7:41am September 24, 2019 at 7:41am
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PROMPT September 24th
Today, the prompt is from NaNoKit !
When was the last time you were dishonest, and why?
Dishonest? ME??! I'm never dishonest!
Okay, I only wrote that so that I could honestly answer the prompt question: The last time I was dishonest was about 30 seconds ago, when I typed the previous paragraph, and "why?" For (hopefully) humorous effect and to make a point.
There's a well-known language paradox, and it goes something like this:
Everything I say is a lie.
If that statement is true, then it is false; but if it is false, then it is true. In fact (heh), it demonstrates that a) language can be manipulated in arbitrary and illogical ways and b) while we think that there is always a binary (Boolean, even) choice between "true" and "false," but some premises, such as the above, are neither.
And I'm dishonest quite often. If you've read my fiction, you know this. Because that's what fiction is. Yeah, everyone involved knows that it's fiction (okay, well, I've had a few readers think I was being autobiographical, but most readers are in on the ploy; the spaceships and/or unicorns should have given it away).
I also outright lie to beggars on the street. "Spare some change?" "No." "I hear it jingling in your pocket!" "Um, those are, um my keys bye good luck!"
And I use hyperbole, which is a type of dishonesty, approximately 150% of the time in my comedy.
But right now I gotta go - I have a movie to act in and a trip to outer space planned, because I'm a movie star and an astronaut. |
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