Re: Relativity and delusion

In sci.physics.relativity, Spaceman
<spaceman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote
on Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:44:34 -0400
<F86dnUN61vMbIhXVnZ2dnUVZ_rjinZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxx>:
The Ghost In The Machine wrote:
In sci.physics.relativity, Spaceman
<spaceman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote
on Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:06:41 -0400
<fd2dncxb0pr3ABrVnZ2dnUVZ_srinZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxx>:
Dirk Van de moortel wrote:
No, I don't think so either - there will always be a steady fresh
supply of retiring engineers and highshool dropouts who learned
to handle a square root.
But don't loose too much sleep over it - if you can't stop it, try
to enjoy it :-)

Dirk,
What is the square root of -1?
How about -4?
Negative numbers can't have square roots huh?
:)


Not real square roots. The consideration of the solution
of the equation x^2 + 1 = 0 led to an entire new class of
numbers, namely imaginary and complex numbers.

???
x^2 + 1 does not equal 0.

The intent of the problem is to find the value(s) of x
such that the equation is satisfied.

Who the hell ever has sadi that it does?
Wow.. no wonder you guys are all screwed up.
If you are trying to make it equal 0 of course you
are going to have to make up "imaginary numbers"

And that's exactly what happened.

Why would you want to prove an illogical equation
such as that?
Might as well start proving that 2+ 2 = 40,000000
also.
:)

Of course understanding why might require some
considerations as to why negative numbers exist at all,
and what their products yield.

Negative numbers exist only to show a postive motion
in a different direction.


So -2 * -2 = -4, then. Interesting math, but I do wonder how one can
combine positive motion in two different directions in an intelligent
fashion.

Best I can do is N-dimensional vector arithmetic, which has
the signed reals as the 1-dimensional case.

--
#191, ewill3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Is it cheaper to learn Linux, or to hire someone
to fix your Windows problems?
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **
.