# 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:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![desdinova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@desdinova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/desdinova)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/41 "2003-06-04T19:21:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ultrafilter \* > \*\*IT’S A JOKE!!! \*\* The Peoples’ Front of Mathematica will _not_ be mocked! Okay, time for a bad economist joke, similar to the programmer one: A chemist, physicist and economist are stranded on a desert island. A can of pork and beans washes ashore. Chemist: Let’s try to start a fire, and then the heat from the fire will cause the beans and juice to expand and burst the can open. Physicist: Let’s get a rock and just bash it open! Economist: Let’s assume we have a can opener… Also, why in god’s name is the thread that inspired me in the first place up to six pages? WILL NO ONE STOP THE INSANITY??? ---
**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, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/42 "2003-06-04T19:24:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by desdinova \* > \*\*The Peoples’ Front of Mathematica will _not_ be mocked! > \*\* No, that’s the _Mathematica People’s Front…_ ---
**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, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/43 "2003-06-04T20:23:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by friedo \* > \*\*“Well,” says the programmer, “why not push it back up to the top of the hill and see if it happens again?” \*\* And the sex worker says “Don’t worry, I know how to get it up again.” > [@](#): > > \*\*Economist: Let’s assume we have a can opener… > \*\* And the sex worker started slowly undressing, and said “Oh yeah? How’s this for openers?” ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/44 "2003-06-05T02:01:02Z")
I killed the thread!! ---
**Author:** ![desdinova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@desdinova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/desdinova)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/45 "2003-06-05T02:30:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FranticMad \* > \*\*I killed the thread!! \*\* _ **NEVER!** _ We shall never rest until our various goals have been achieved! Like, you know, the goals… I think they have something to do with pie. … TWO, FOUR, SIX, EIGHT! THEIR SUM DOES NOT NECESSARILY EQUAL TWENTY! I’m also taking applications for Chief Sloganeer. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/46 "2003-06-05T07:09:18Z")
Sheesh… Everyone knows that the answer is 42. ---
**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 5, 2003, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/47 "2003-06-05T08:08:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kabbes \* > \*\*I may have a unique singular symbol just for you 😉 \*\* Would that mean I’d be the poster formerly known as Fern? I think we’re overlooking the benefits of an infinitely based number system. In one fell swoop the whole “does 0.999… = 1?” would instantly become irrelavent since there’d be no decimals. You’d never have to round off to the nearest decimale since each and every number would be perfectly precise. We’d have a lot of fun coming up with all the symbols for all the numbers we’re going to need. And for all those mathaphobic people you’d never have to do math since there’d be no way to possible way anyone could remember enough of them to be useful. You’d just carry around a PDA which tells what number + or - or \* or / another number is. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![3\_14159265358979323846](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/eada6e/32.png) [@3\_14159265358979323846](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_14159265358979323846)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/48 "2003-06-05T08:26:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ogre \* > \*\* > “Pi,” pursuant to biblical usage, now equals 3.0. \*\* This greatly inconveniences me. ---
**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 5, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/49 "2003-06-05T14:05:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 3\_14159265358979323846 \* > \*\*This greatly inconveniences me. \*\* Not at all. It’s a lot less typing. Isn’t 3\_0 a much nicer username? ---
**Author:** ![Race\_Bannon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Race\_Bannon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Race_Bannon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/50 "2003-06-05T16:56:30Z")
I had to fill out my timecard for this week. Since I’ve been working on lots of nonsense projects, I decided to use irrational numbers. I wonder if they’ll pay me with irrational money. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/51 "2003-06-05T17:06:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by desdinova \* > \*\*I’m also taking applications for Chief Sloganeer. \*\* This position, what does it pay? ---
**Author:** ![desdinova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@desdinova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/desdinova)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/52 "2003-06-05T18:27:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\*This position, what does it pay? \*\* $log(1)/hour 😛 ---
**Author:** ![green\_dragon\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/13edae/32.png) [@green\_dragon\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_dragon_1)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/53 "2003-06-05T18:29:02Z")
_hurrys to join the lines of the front_ Hi? Hello? Did I miss anything? Is it possible we could come up with a way to get maths out of physics? I might be able to DO physics if there was less math! Perhaps some kind of pictorial system… More power to the revolution! ---
**Author:** ![green\_dragon\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/13edae/32.png) [@green\_dragon\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_dragon_1)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/54 "2003-06-05T18:30:10Z")
would that be a yule log? a chocolate log? Let’s make maths delicious! ---
**Author:** ![Race\_Bannon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Race\_Bannon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Race_Bannon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/55 "2003-06-05T18:59:00Z")
I’m sorry, but I’ve decided that I cannot condone this populist attempt to revolutionize mathematics. Think of all the sacrifices of mathematicians before us! [People have given their lives](http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Hippasus.html) to provide us with mathematical truths! ---
**Author:** ![green\_dragon\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/13edae/32.png) [@green\_dragon\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_dragon_1)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/56 "2003-06-05T19:57:44Z")
Ah, but it was the fanatical adherance to a certain set of so-called ‘mathematical truths’ that caused the murder of that _revolutionary figure_…we are just the new revolutionaries, and there will always be poor misguided souls who oppose us; let’s just hope they all follow your approach of inadvertantly backing up our arguement 😉 ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397/57 "2003-06-05T20:15:18Z")
But what about those who were more interested in music and dancing, yet did mathematics their way – such as [Emmy Noether](http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmy_Noether)? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-vote-on-a-new-math-system/179397.md?page=2)