Today I Graphed Infinity

So, two really cool things to talk about and one not-so-cool-thing. I'll leave it up to your discretion to pick which is which.



First up, today at work, I graphed infinity. More specifically, I graphed a Mandelbrot Set and if you don't know what that is, me oh my are you ever in for a treat. It is one of the very few things in math that the general population would consider to be "pretty cool". Basically - you get a shape (sortof) that you can zoom in on forever and it still has clarity. What makes it so rad is that if you colour it (generally complex values that fall within the set are black and all values outside of the set are given different colours based on how quickly they diverge to infinity) it becomes the trippiest thing ever. If you happen to be on acid at the moment you may not want to click that link cause it will freak you the hell out. Looking at it perfectly sober still makes me feel like I'm falling forever.

This was the first math type thing that I was ever actually interested in. There was a special PBS program on called "Colours of Infinity" and I figured "hey, I like colours and infinity so let's watch that". Well, they just talked all about the Mandelbrot Set and Fractals and it was still frickin awesome. Did you know that leaves and lightning bolts are sortof fractals? I didn't and it was cool! I was in grade 8 or 9 and all the math was way above my head and all I knew about fractals was that you could zoom in forever. Actually, all the math is still way above my hand but I kindave understand the absolute basics now.

Second cool thing => There are alot of things that I sortof know a little bit about but actually trying to understand and know them makes me cringe because they're so complex and complicated. Examples of words that make me cringe: Quantum, Complex ( a math term meaning that imaginary numbers are involved), Nuclear , Non-Euclidean, and Chaos. If you put all those words together I imagine you would have a phrase that nearly everyone would cringe at. Complex non-Euclidean quantum nuclear chaos anyone?

Anyways, one of these things, Chaos Theory, I had read up on before and managed to barely understand any of it. Today, I came across it several times while reading a manual to try and learn how to use a computer program for making bifurcation plots. After cringing about 15 times I decided to finally bite the bullet and google it and try to maybe figure out what the hell it is. Guess what? I already knew what it was. My reaction was "Oh... that's all that chaos is? Man that's easy." Now don't get me wrong... I can't actually do any math stuffs with it but I do understand what it is and what it implies. GO ME!

Okay, the last thing. It appears as though my roomate has gotten a job as a research assistant. He just finished his first year of engineering and is absolutely the most infuriating person I have ever met. I can't stand being near him - I hang around the library/work at school so I don't have to be near him. He does not deserve to be doing research nor is he even remotely qualified for whatever the hell it is he's doing. I know that my school has very little in the way of standards (one of the reasons why I like it) but COME ON! Now, naturally I am a little bit biased because I would like to see him dead on the side of the road but here are a few reasons why he should not be doing research (and also should be kicked out of school and deported)

1. He just finished first year. Typically only in extraordinary instances do first years get to do research because they don't know anything usefull yet. Fuck, I barely know anything useful. He certainly is not an extraordinary case... unless we are measuring ineptitude.

2. He was opening a tin can with scissors. I told him I had a can opener and got it out for him. He struggled with it for a minute - holding the can opener backwards and then asked me to show him how to use it. I did. He struggled with it for another minute in exactly the same manner he was before and then went back to the scissors. Now remember how he wants to be an engineer, y'know, those people who are generally mechanically inclined.

3. Asked me if a zillion came after a trillion. Now remember how he wants to be an engineer, y'know, those people who are good at math.

4. He wonders why tin foil doesn't burn. I think you get the point by now.

5. He has a solid 61% average. Now this might just be me but I'm not setting foot anywhere near a 61% bridge.

The last two years seem like such a giant waste now if someone as wholly useless as he can do research.


EDIT: This video has a little bit less crazy zooming and a very basic introduction into what a Mandelbrot set is and I found it very interesting and helpful. Also: I'm pretty sure that if God exists he looks like the pudgy black dude.