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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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January 13, 2007 at 6:05pm
January 13, 2007 at 6:05pm
#481109
Wendopolis Author Icon commented: The one complaint thing works both ways. A parent at my girls' school in Bakersfield complained about the YMCA flyers the kids took home and what happened? No more flyers. Course, could have been a California thing.

Which I also disagree with...

Okay, tangential rant here: A lot of people think that a democracy means, "Majority Rules." That isn't democracy; that's mob rule. Mobocracy. Whatever. No - democracy means we acknowledge that everyone has certain rights; these rights cannot be legally abridged by any entity, governmental or otherwise; and willful abridgement of these rights leads to the loss of one's own rights.

As such, democracy isn't about the majority getting its way - that would be anarchy - but about protecting the rights of the minority.

Now, granted, religious rightwingnuts ARE a minority, and they DO have rights - the same rights that the rest of us do. You don't get to impose your worldview on the rest of us through legislation or other means, and the attempt to do it by swaying the hearts and souls of children - especially when they're not your own - is just plain fucked up. You DO get to believe as you choose.

Okay, so to get off the tangent, let's assume for a moment that the complainant against the YMCA fliers was an atheist. She could have been one of any other number of groups, but for the sake of argument: atheist. Now, given the above discussion about rights, whose right is being promulgated, and whose is being violated - if any?

It could be argued (though not by me) that if only evolution is taught in schools, then the rights of those who don't believe in evolution are being violated. My main issue with this argument is that evolution is a scientific theory, subject to testing and revision, based on rigorous observational data - whereas creationism, for instance, is NOT. So it's not atheism vs. theism, but rational discourse vs. superstition. And superstition doesn't belong in schools (Halloween decorations aren't superstition - they're just fun; there's no effort to convince kids that spirits and whatnot actually exist).

Obviously, the flat-earthers disagree with me; sadly, I don't know if there's any middle ground. I wouldn't mind seeing religion taught in schools as it is taught in many colleges: critically, comparatively, and as a sociological phenomenon rather than as the Truth. The problem with THAT idea is obvious from the get-go: where do you find decent teachers who can teach religion in an unbiased manner, when we can hardly find decent math teachers anymore, and math is about as objective as a subject ever gets?

So the YMCA handed out fliers. Without knowing whether the fliers' tone was "Come be a Christian!" or "Come exercise here!" I don't know if the loudmouth had a basis for complaint or not.

But around here, they managed to convince the school board that handing out religous fliers would be a Good Thing to Do in public schools. The result?

(Ignore the mugshot at the top and scroll down to "Saturday, December 9" around the middle of the page:)

http://tinyurl.com/yce8d4

On September 14, due to legal pressure from the conservative Christian legal group, Liberty Counsel, the Albemarle County School Board voted to allow religious fliers to be distributed in schools. Now, a Pagan group is likely making Liberty Counsel wish they’d stayed home with their New Testament. Local organization NatureSpirit earlier this month sent a flier through the schools advertising a Pagan ritual to celebrate Yule.

Amusing side note: the guy doing that is the guy who was dating my wife before I started dating her.

Moral of this story? As Cerebus the Aardvark once said, "You can get what you want and still not be happy."
*Thought*  Comment   •   View 9 comments
January 13, 2007 at 4:18pm
January 13, 2007 at 4:18pm
#481093


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