Re: [math-fun] nice little sliding block head exercise
mrob>I simply rotated the whole board and got the S tetromino to the lower-right in 1 "tort". Heck no. "Torts" apply to individual pieces. You are guilty of a "crass action". --rwg On Fri, Feb 22, 2013 at 6:09 PM, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote: Scott H.> If moving 1 piece pushes/moves N-1 other pieces, does that count as 1 move or N moves? N. As Neil explained it to me, that's one "action". A "move" is one piece along any path. A "step" is one piece moving one square. --rwg Your sneaky moderator used rotation and claims six moves vs nine. This is so unthinkably illegal that I doubt there is even a term for such a maneuver. A "deviation"? A "tort"? "The solution requires five moves and a malfeasance."-- Robert Munafo -- mrob.com Follow me at: gplus.to/mrob - fb.com/mrob27 - twitter.com/mrob_27 -mrob27.wordpress.com - youtube.com/user/mrob143 - rilybot.blogspot.com
* Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> [Feb 23. 2013 19:41]:
mrob>I simply rotated the whole board and got the S tetromino to the lower-right in 1 "tort".
Heck no. "Torts" apply to individual pieces. You are guilty of a "crass action".
aka "creativity".
--rwg
[...]
Best, jj
Maybe... but I think the "creative" approach would have been to not touch the puzzle at all, but rather to walk around to another side of the table from where the puzzle appears to be solved, perhaps with the aid of mirrors. On Sat, Feb 23, 2013 at 1:43 PM, Joerg Arndt <arndt@jjj.de> wrote:
* Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> [Feb 23. 2013 19:41]:
mrob>I simply rotated the whole board and got the S tetromino to the lower-right in 1 "tort".
Heck no. "Torts" apply to individual pieces. You are guilty of a "crass action".
aka "creativity".
--rwg
[...]
Best, jj
-- Robert Munafo -- mrob.com Follow me at: gplus.to/mrob - fb.com/mrob27 - twitter.com/mrob_27 - mrob27.wordpress.com - youtube.com/user/mrob143 - rilybot.blogspot.com
I just heard this one: Which one is different: A. An Applied Math Ph.D. B. A Pure Math Ph.D. C. A large pepperoni pizza D. A Statistics Ph.D. Answer: B. A Pure Math Ph.D. ... each of the others will feed a family of four.
[Yes, I know, these jokes are nearly the same. I also like multiple proofs of the same theorem.] Three employees (an engineer, a physicist and a mathematician) are staying in a hotel while attending a technical seminar. The engineer wakes up and smells smoke. He goes out into the hallway and sees a fire, so he fills a trashcan from his room with water and douses the fire. He goes back to bed. Later, the physicist wakes up and smells smoke. He opens his door and sees a fire in the hallway. He walks down the hall to a fire hose and after calculating the flame velocity, distance, water pressure, trajectory, etc. extinguishes the fire with the minimum amount of water and energy needed. Later, the mathematician wakes up and smells smoke. She goes to the hall, sees the fire and then the fire hose. She thinks for a moment and then exclaims, 'Ah, a solution exists!' and then goes back to bed. --- A physicist and a mathematician are in the faculty lounge having a cup of coffee when, for no apparent reason, the coffee machine bursts into flames. The physicist rushes over to the wall, grabs a fire extinguisher, and fights the fire successfully. The same time next week, the same pair are there drinking coffee and talking shop when the new coffee machine goes on fire. The mathematician stands up, fetches the fire extinguisher, and hands it to the physicist, thereby reducing the problem to one already solved... --- Alternate sequel: This time the physicist & mathematician are asked simply to fry an egg. The physicist calculates carefully and produces a carefully cooked egg; and the mathematician lights a fire in the corner, and says "I have reduced it to the previous problem." [I particularly like the "Aha! A solution exists!" part.] At 12:06 PM 2/26/2013, Dan Asimov wrote:
I just heard this one:
Which one is different:
A. An Applied Math Ph.D. B. A Pure Math Ph.D. C. A large pepperoni pizza D. A Statistics Ph.D.
Answer:
Errett Bishop (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Errett_Bishop) was one pure mathematican who wouldn't have put up with "Ah, a solution exists". On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 4:40 PM, Henry Baker <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote:
Later, the mathematician wakes up and smells smoke. She goes to the hall, sees the fire and then the fire hose. She thinks for a moment and then exclaims, 'Ah, a solution exists!' and then goes back to bed.
On 2/26/13, W. Edwin Clark <wclark@mail.usf.edu> wrote:
Errett Bishop (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Errett_Bishop) was one pure mathematican who wouldn't have put up with "Ah, a solution exists".
What was meant by "schizophrenia" in this biog --- maybe the dichotomy between constructive and "ideal" (non-constructive, presumably) methods? And what is (are?) "classical" mathematics in this context --- Bourbaki? WFL
I always liked this one: To a pessimist, the glass is half empty. To an optimist, the glass is half full. To an engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be. Tom
To a realist - the glass is always full (of something). To an opportunist - the glass is a free drink while the rest argue. On 26 Feb 2013, at 23:06, Tom Karzes wrote:
I always liked this one:
To a pessimist, the glass is half empty. To an optimist, the glass is half full. To an engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
Tom
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The meaning and purpose of life is to give life purpose and meaning. The instigation of violence indicates a lack of spirituality.
On the optimist vs. pessimist water glass, I like http://what-if.xkcd.com/6/ Charles Greathouse Analyst/Programmer Case Western Reserve University On Wed, Feb 27, 2013 at 4:13 PM, David Makin <makinmagic@tiscali.co.uk>wrote:
To a realist - the glass is always full (of something).
To an opportunist - the glass is a free drink while the rest argue.
On 26 Feb 2013, at 23:06, Tom Karzes wrote:
I always liked this one:
To a pessimist, the glass is half empty. To an optimist, the glass is half full. To an engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
Tom
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The meaning and purpose of life is to give life purpose and meaning. The instigation of violence indicates a lack of spirituality.
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I recall: Pessimist: Please pass the milk. Optimist: Please pass the cream. Realist: Please pass the pitcher. Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: Tom Karzes Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 6:07 pm Subject: Re: [math-fun] Riddle To: math-fun
I always liked this one:
To a pessimist, the glass is half empty. To an optimist, the glass is half full. To an engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
Tom
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I think these jokes are a reflection of the fact that mathematics was not much concerned with costs (or in some cases had what now seems a curious notion of costs) before the arrival of undecidability and then complexity theory in the 20th century. Whit On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 1:40 PM, Henry Baker <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote:
[Yes, I know, these jokes are nearly the same. I also like multiple proofs of the same theorem.]
Three employees (an engineer, a physicist and a mathematician) are staying in a hotel while attending a technical seminar.
The engineer wakes up and smells smoke. He goes out into the hallway and sees a fire, so he fills a trashcan from his room with water and douses the fire. He goes back to bed.
Later, the physicist wakes up and smells smoke. He opens his door and sees a fire in the hallway. He walks down the hall to a fire hose and after calculating the flame velocity, distance, water pressure, trajectory, etc. extinguishes the fire with the minimum amount of water and energy needed.
Later, the mathematician wakes up and smells smoke. She goes to the hall, sees the fire and then the fire hose. She thinks for a moment and then exclaims, 'Ah, a solution exists!' and then goes back to bed. --- A physicist and a mathematician are in the faculty lounge having a cup of coffee when, for no apparent reason, the coffee machine bursts into flames. The physicist rushes over to the wall, grabs a fire extinguisher, and fights the fire successfully. The same time next week, the same pair are there drinking coffee and talking shop when the new coffee machine goes on fire. The mathematician stands up, fetches the fire extinguisher, and hands it to the physicist, thereby reducing the problem to one already solved... --- Alternate sequel: This time the physicist & mathematician are asked simply to fry an egg. The physicist calculates carefully and produces a carefully cooked egg; and the mathematician lights a fire in the corner, and says "I have reduced it to the previous problem."
[I particularly like the "Aha! A solution exists!" part.] At 12:06 PM 2/26/2013, Dan Asimov wrote:
I just heard this one:
Which one is different:
A. An Applied Math Ph.D. B. A Pure Math Ph.D. C. A large pepperoni pizza D. A Statistics Ph.D.
Answer:
_______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun
D. Because the others concern reality. On 26 Feb 2013, at 20:06, Dan Asimov wrote:
I just heard this one:
Which one is different:
A. An Applied Math Ph.D. B. A Pure Math Ph.D. C. A large pepperoni pizza D. A Statistics Ph.D.
Answer:
B. A Pure Math Ph.D. ... each of the others will feed a family of four.
_______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun
The meaning and purpose of life is to give life purpose and meaning. The instigation of violence indicates a lack of spirituality.
* David Makin <makinmagic@tiscali.co.uk> [Feb 27. 2013 19:14]:
D. Because the others concern reality.
Pure Math... reality? Prepare to be hunted down and killed by an angry mob of pure mathematicians! Best, jj P.S.: Usage of the word "reality" even by a physicist is enough reason to stop listening to the person in question for good.
On 26 Feb 2013, at 20:06, Dan Asimov wrote:
I just heard this one:
Which one is different:
A. An Applied Math Ph.D. B. A Pure Math Ph.D. C. A large pepperoni pizza D. A Statistics Ph.D.
[...]
participants (13)
-
Bill Gosper -
Charles Greathouse -
Dan Asimov -
David Makin -
Eric Angelini -
Fred lunnon -
Henry Baker -
Joerg Arndt -
Robert Munafo -
rtwainwright＠optonline.net -
Tom Karzes -
W. Edwin Clark -
Whitfield Diffie