Search where?

This Portfolio (cathartes02)

All of Writing.Com

◄ December ►
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31
Archive				RSS

Offsite Blogs

· Waltz Travel Blog

Create New Item

Read & Review

Community

Browse By Type

Browse By Genre

Writing Resources

Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024

6:33pm EST

Members: 954

Guests: 1,484

Total Online: 2,438

Complex Numbers

by Waltz Invictus

Rated: 18+ · Book · Personal · #1196512

Not for the faint of art.

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.

http://www.ddewey.net/mandelbrot/

Signature for Honorable Mentions in 2018 Quill Awards

A signature for exclusive use of winners at the 2019 Quill Awards

Signature for those who have won a Quill Award at the 2020 Quill Awards

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Wordsmitty ✍️

about 6 hours ago
In response to "On the Label"

"June 25, 2024 5:40 AM" = Need time zone.

"Note to self:" = self-driving taxis

Some people definitely can be labeled, but we don't say those in polite company.

2 Like

Annette

about 6 hours ago
In response to "On the Label"

Only one label matters. Cat person or dog person. If the answer is anything except "yes" the person's life choices defy all logic analysis.

I wonder what is the difference between psychotherapist, psychologist, and psychoanalysis. Or are they like po-ta-to, po-tuh-two?

3 Like

tj-Merry Mischief Maker

Dec 9, 2024 at 2:51pm
In response to "Analog Log"

As time progresses, it amazes me how we have moved from tide clocks/analog computers to people eating tide-pods.

1 Like

Aiva Raine

Dec 9, 2024 at 2:37pm
In response to "Story of the Century"

Fantastic entry. Have I mentioned how I love your snark? Thanks once again for the grins and your awesome sarcastic responses to the articles.

1 Like

Anni Pon

Dec 8, 2024 at 10:01am
In response to "Revisited: "Millennials Killed Millennials""

It's kind of funny to me that people still use "millennials" to refer to "those darn kids" when most of them are in their 30's now with kids of their own. As an elder millennial (a Xennial, if you will), I haven't really found the generational definitions too useful for myself. I'm right on the border of generations, so I have a lot in common with both Millennials and Gen X. Growing up in silicon valley with tech savvy parents, I had earlier access to computers and technology than a lot of other people my age. But in terms of cultural milestones, I lived through and am old enough to remember things like the 90's, Y2K and 9/11. The borders are sort of arbitrary, but on a population level I can see how sometimes it can be useful to group people into generations.

2 Like

Elisa: Snowman Stik

Dec 8, 2024 at 9:40am
In response to "Revisited: "Millennials Killed Millennials""

*rubs hands together* Time for me to dive right in!

2. In this system, I'm early Generation X, which hardly anyone ever talks about, opting instead to rag on "boomers" or "millennials" or "Gen-Z." Or praise them, depending on the author's beliefs and age.

Looks like I need to change my name to "hardly anyone". Also, there has been more and more chatter about Gen X in some circles, but curiously this seems to be happening in institutions that have dropped labels (which I'll touch on in a second here).

On top of which, you'd have to convince me that our 1983-born X-er has more in common with someone born in 1966 than with someone born in 1986.

Very, very, VERY few organizations that have ever in their history used generational labels have set the Gen-X border any later than 1980. While I'm still very salty that Pew stopped this practice (one of the few things they've done wrong, IMO), I still use their Gen-X demarcation of 1965-1980. That demarcation nicely strikes the median of most demarcations. SO in this case it's not a matter of you needing to be convinced. It's a matter of the author leaning on a REALLY bad source.

Much of what sets "generations" apart, in modern terms, has to do with technological advancements and societal changes...then other people had to think that the original wearer was cool enough to start a fashion trend.

And how that message has been conveyed has drastically changed among generations, to boot.

So you know what I want to see Millennials finally kill?

Generations.

As a Millennial, I can tell you that this is probably the last thing our generation will try to kill. It's something that's persisting even as we reach middle age. And that's another thing. We're aging very strangely, namely that physically we're aging more slowly than people in Gen Z. We could have killed the concept of aging a certain way, but Gen Z's circumstances have effectively torpedoed that revolution.

Also, if anyone wants to read the original article, you can certainly try throwing the URL in the Wayback Machine. It doesn't always work, but it's worth a try. There are some other methods as well, but I haven't tried them myself yet. (Speaking of which, has anyone here tried Zette? I've been meaning to sign up for that but haven't had a chance. It's one of my goals for 2025.)

2 Like

Wordsmitty ✍️

Dec 7, 2024 at 12:41pm
In response to "Story of the Century"

Maybe it helps if you can dance - Dick Van Dyke and Coldplay - although he's just 99. (I assume everyone has read about that)

4 Like

🌖 HuntersMoon

Dec 6, 2024 at 10:07am
In response to "No Space for Time"

I think you just added clarity to the Twilight Zone...

3 Like

tj-Merry Mischief Maker

Dec 5, 2024 at 4:05pm
In response to "How To Give A Fock"

How many photons does it take to make a torpedo? Who gives a Fock! Actually, wasn't Fock Spock's half brother?

3 Like

Jayne

Dec 5, 2024 at 10:23am
In response to "How To Give A Fock"

Versatile Fock States is the name of my next thrash album.

3 Like

December 11, 2024 at 12:20pm

#1081035

On the Label

A Slate article from half a year ago takes on an issue I've been wondering about for a long time.

On Both Sides of My Brain
For years now, I’ve been puzzled—and annoyed—by the way people seem to insist on labeling what type of person one can be. I’ve finally solved my problem.

Ah, I recognize that personality type! The author must be a non-labeler!

June 25, 2024 5:40 AM

Yeah, I don't usually copy timestamps in here, but this one gave me pause. Is the writer an extreme night owl, or an extreme early bird? (Or was the article's publication time scripted? Different time zone? Who knows?)

Recently, after I did a silent retreat, I was trapped on a five-hour car journey (long story) with someone who was obsessed with labeling everything. People have “math brains” or “creative brains,” there are “boy chores” and “girl chores,” and in any relationship you will have “the person who reads the map” and “the one who is social.”

Well, there's your problem: you did a silent retreat, and then got stuck as a captive audience while someone spewed out all the words they couldn't during the retreat.

This labeling tic is all over the internet too; indeed, much of the content I see online seems premised upon the idea that everything can be better understood if we simply group it as a type.

Yes, maybe we should call that kind of person a Tag Hag.

The relief in the comments is palpable: Oh, I’m that label! Everything makes sense now.

That's kind of what's been bugging me about labeling, to be serious for a moment. I am what I am (to quote either God or Popeye), so how does putting a label on it help? Like, we all know I'm into science, pedantry, gaming, and science fiction; how does it help me or anyone else if I get put in the "nerd" box?

Usually when I find myself dealing with a “labeler” in real life, it’s because this idea of there being two types of brains has come up.

There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who think there are two types of brains, and those of us who know that's been thoroughly and completely debunked.

It’s not just attachment styles. All over those platforms, you see vlogs and infographics declaring that people can be understood best as bundles of fixed, unchanging symptoms, related to corresponding bundles of trauma, grouped neatly under buzzy labels.

This is, of course nonsense. People can be best understood by their astrological natal chart.

Yes, I'm back to making jokes. But speaking of astrology:

Then there is the enormous popularity of astrology meme accounts. I find it hard to take exception with this iteration of labeling, though, because my star sign is Aquarius, so the @costarastrology account (with its 2 million followers) always presents me with flattering personality reads that position me as a cool, aloof, intellectual sort.

That's not your star sign. It's your sun sign. Your personality is also influenced by what sign the moon was in at your birth, and which one was intersected by the eastern horizon (which is what I said above). As I'm an Aquarius sun and moon (rising sign unknown), I know that astrology is complete horseshit (but sometimes fun horseshit).

On that five-hour car journey with the labeler, though, I could not simply go outside. They were always rushing to finish my sentences too, with an ending they expected might fit with the kind of thing I had been saying. There was a manic, frantic energy to every exchange. As if something terrible might happen if I were permitted to finish a sentence by myself.

Note to self: if I ever do a silent retreat (which I won't), arrange my own damn transportation. Alone.

And speaking about it, I should admit, to my psychoanalyst a few days later helped me clarify my thoughts further. (That’s right, my psychoanalyst. This essay was not eccentric and unhinged enough already.)

Right, because everyone who sees a shrink is eccentric and unhinged? Come on, lady, if you're going to rage against labels, at least stop enhancing the stigma surrounding mental health issues.

But in the wake of the silent retreat, everything seemed bathed in a rosy glow of calmness and goodwill. My thoughts were infused with peace and love and so forth. So, after my frustration had exhausted itself (and, mind you, that did still take a while), I had a sort of epiphany. After all, wasn’t there some of the labeler in me? Even by calling this person a labeler, I was assigning them a type.

I can almost forgive the dig on psychotherapy after seeing this level of self-awareness. Almost. Not quite.

There is, of course, more to the article, including another epiphany about some people needing to maintain control over social situations, or something. I don't know; I'm not sure if that revelation makes things better or worse. Just like with labels. So, I leave the article, my own curiosity unresolved, more confused than ever.

Maybe I should see a shrink.

3 Like • Comment • View 2 comments

© Copyright 2024 Waltz Invictus (UN: cathartes02 at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Waltz Invictus has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.

Printed from https://shop.writing.com/main/profile/blog/cathartes02/day/12-11-2024