# Let's vote on a new math system! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 3, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397 "2003-06-03T16:37:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pantom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/34f0e0/32.png) [@pantom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantom)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/21 "2003-06-04T01:16:40Z")
**Dilbert, anyone? or the last proof you’ll ever need:** Given that knowledge = power, and, furthermore, that time = money, and finally, that power = work/time, we find… substituting terms: knowledge = work/time and, since time = money… knowledge = work/ money finally, solving for money, we find that money = work/knowledge, so that as knowledge approaches zero, money approaches infinity, therefore… the less you know, the more you make. * * * Or, there’s this: A university committee was selecting a new dean. They had narrowed the candidates down to a mathematician, an economist and a lawyer. Each was asked this question during their interview: “How much is two plus two?” The mathematician answered immediately, “Four.” The economist thought for several minutes and finally answered, “Four, plus or minus one.” Finally the lawyer stood up, peered around the room and motioned silently for the committee members to gather close to him. In a hushed, conspiratorial tone, he replied, “How much do you want it to be?” More here: [http://www.nolo.com/humor/jokes.cfm](http://www.nolo.com/humor/jokes.cfm) * * * So, now, why are we bothering with math? ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/22 "2003-06-04T01:41:22Z")
The problem here, **pantom** , is that the first half of your post _requires_ an understanding of the concept of limits, which we’ve already dicarded. It was still funny. To me at least. The second half neglects the inclusion of an engineer, who would just punch the examiner in the nose (note the precision) and walk out with his head held high. ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/23 "2003-06-04T02:23:14Z")
[Orbifold attempts his first proof in the new math system…] Um… … Infinity **BAD**!!! (Was I sufficiently open to new ideas?) ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/24 "2003-06-04T02:27:21Z")
**pantom** also neglected the sex worker, who answered “Two hundred dollars, but hurry up, I haven’t got all day.” ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/25 "2003-06-04T02:35:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Orbifold \* > Infinity **BAD**!!! A bit harsh. It would be nicer to say “_finitely challenged_”. ---
**Author:** ![pantom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/34f0e0/32.png) [@pantom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantom)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/26 "2003-06-04T02:54:36Z")
Please, folks, I only copied that thing off the web site I posted. If I had thought it up, the economist would have said, “Four, plus or minus one standard deviation.” That would have been more accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/27 "2003-06-04T02:56:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by [survivorology.com](http://survivorology.com) \* > \*\*You could write a check for $100, and the bank could determine that $100 is equal to $1,000,000 and bounce your check. This could have its consequences. \*\* Yes, but by the same laws, you could go into your bank, write a check for $10, and tell them to give it to you in 10,000 $100 bills, since the two numbers are equal. Then close your account. Have to stick it to them before they figure it all out and stick it to us. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![pantom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/34f0e0/32.png) [@pantom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantom)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/28 "2003-06-04T03:06:38Z")
Also, **FranticMad** , please note that sex is currently selling at a discount for returning GIs: [http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/06/03/offbeat.brothel.reut/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/06/03/offbeat.brothel.reut/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![heresiarch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/29 "2003-06-04T03:20:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\*Er… how are you going to count the votes? \*\* Oh, we’ve got lots of ways to get around that old-fashioned notion of _counting_. We could have the marketing department work up some projections. Or, the simple crowd-pleasing applause meter. But for really serious math questions, like calculating an orbit to Mars or something, we need a more rigorous method. I think we should get a bunch of mathematicians together, each advocating a unique solution, place them on a remote location (like a small island), and then vote them off the island one by one. The survivng mathematician wins and his or her solution is deemed correct. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/30 "2003-06-04T04:28:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by [survivorology.com](http://survivorology.com) \* > \*\*I am a contrarian. I love Mathematical proof. It is the search for perfection and order in a mixed up universe. It is the only achievable degree of perfection we have. > > If everything is equal if it really really wants to be, then it can be less than anything else, or greater than anything else. You could write a check for $100, and the bank could determine that $100 is equal to $1,000,000 and bounce your check. This could have its consequences. > > I love Mathematics that raises to the level of absurdity. I enjoy Dr. Matrix’s proof. Imagine everything that we can prove if we slip in a faulty assumption. Dividing by zero does not preserve equality. > > And if we didn’t have limits, then we could never understand what happens when we divide by zero. > > As far as 90% of mathematicians agreeing something is true, that does happen. Those aren’t theorems, but axioms. Axioms cannot be proved or disproved, and are agreed upon. > > I don’t offer any suggestions on making integrals easier. Integration beats segragation though. \*\* IT’S A JOKE!!! ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/31 "2003-06-04T04:31:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ultrafilter \* > \*\*IT’S A JOKE!!! \*\* Easy there, buddy. I read it as the person posting that you quoted knows that perfectly well. Kinda like this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Devron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ec9cab/32.png) [@Devron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Devron)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/32 "2003-06-04T07:58:51Z")
Why don’t we just make everything equal to 5? That would make things sooo much easier. Counting the votes? He got 5 he got 5. It’s a tie! Hey and then we would have 2 presidents, or one could be a vice if he decides not to mess with the big, scary looking component…and that means we would have 2 people to get 2 differnet outlooks on things! “How many nuclear weapons does he have?” “five sir.” ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/33 "2003-06-04T08:11:00Z")
I think we should just let the politicians decide, just as we do for medical decisions and finances. I mean, they’re equally qualified… ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/34 "2003-06-04T10:01:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lainaf \* > \*\*I’d like to see the world convert to the hexadecimal system. It would be a lot easier for the computers. \*\* Hmmm, not far enough. I want to go to an infinite based number system. Each and every number should have its own unique singular symbol. ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/35 "2003-06-04T10:52:17Z")
I may have a unique singular symbol just for you 😉 ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/36 "2003-06-04T11:19:39Z")
We could have a new disproof symbol: Q.E.S., short for _quia est stultus_ (because it’s silly.) Example: 0.9… != 1, Q.E.S. ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/37 "2003-06-04T12:43:23Z")
Perhaps we should have a roundtable (however you want to define that) discussion and extend this to all sciences as well. We can finally clean up the arbitrary nonsense in so-called physics. Who voted for the law of gravity, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![survivorology.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@survivorology.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/survivorology.com)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/38 "2003-06-04T17:36:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ultrafilter \* > \*\*IT’S A JOKE!!! \*\* **MATH IS NOT A JOKE!!!** But there are Math jokes. Here is one of my favorites: A public school teacher was detained at Heathrow Airport in London as she tried to board a plane. She was carrying a protractor, compass, and graphing calculator. She was charged with carrying weapons of math instruction. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/39 "2003-06-04T17:50:39Z")
Haw haw haw! OK, here’s mine. A chemist, an engineer, and a computer programmer were in a car driving down a hill. Suddenly, the driver loses control and crashes into a ditch. Getting out of the car, the three attempt to ascertain the nature of the problem. “Hmm,” says the chemist. Perhaps we’re out of fuel. We should check the gas tank. “No, no no.” Says the engineer. Obviously it’s a mechanical problem. Let’s take a look under the hood. Meanwhile, the computer programmer has been quite contemplative, so they ask for his opinion. “Well,” says the programmer, “why not push it back up to the top of the hill and see if it happens again?” ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/40 "2003-06-04T18:28:53Z")
I feel like a nerd for laughing at that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397.md?page=3)