%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |    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. ![Merit Badge in Quill Award
[Click For More Info]
Congratulations on winning Best Blog in the 2021 edition of [Link To Item #quills] !](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Quill_Award-1375927_6.gif) ![Merit Badge in Quill Award 2
[Click For More Info]
2022 Quill Award - Best Blog - [Link To Item #1196512] . Congratulations!!!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Quill_Award_2-1375927_6.gif) ![Merit Badge in 30DBC Winner
[Click For More Info]
Congratulations on winning the Jan. 2019 [Link To Item #30dbc] !!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-30DBC_Winner-2064535_14.gif) ![Merit Badge in Blogging
[Click For More Info]
Congratulations on winning an honorable mention for Best Blog at the 2018 Quill Awards for [Link To Item #1196512] . *^*Smile*^* This award was sponsored by the blogging consortium including [Link To Item #30dbc] , [Link To Item #blogcity] , [Link To Item #bcof] and [Link To Item #1953629] . For more details, see [Link To Item #quills] .](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/type-Blogging-2180.gif) ![Merit Badge in Highly Recommended
[Click For More Info]
I highly recommend your blog.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/Kudos-Highly_Recommended.gif) ![Merit Badge in Opinion
[Click For More Info]
For diving into the prompts for Journalistic Intentions- thanks for joining the fun!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Opinion-1150.gif) ![Merit Badge in High Five
[Click For More Info]
For your inventive entries in [Link To Item #2213121] ! Thanks for the great read!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/Kudos-High_Five.gif) ![Merit Badge in Enlightening
[Click For More Info]
For winning 3rd Place in [Link To Item #2213121] . Congratulations!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Enlightening.gif) ![Merit Badge in Quarks Bar
[Click For More Info]
For your awesome Klingon Bloodwine recipe from [Link to Book Entry #1016079] that deserves to be on the topmost shelf at Quark's.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Quarks_Bar-2046190_12.gif)       |
| It's important to question the things we think we know from time to time. This is one of those times, courtesy of that bastion of fact-checking, Cracked. Brains are weird; we’ve known that since the first caveman tried to impress a girl with the Stone Age version of an acoustic rendition of “Wonderwall.” Or as I call it, Wonderbra. We’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out those little balls of electric meat, but we have to do that with our own stupid balls of electric meat, so sometimes we get it way, way wrong. Especially when we fall victim to anchoring bias. I've been guilty of that myself, and I have to wonder what else I think is true that has been proven to be not exactly the case. Since these cases deal with psychology, there's also a lot of confirmation bias involved. That is to say, if we're inclined to believe the worst of people, we'll see examples of it everywhere, and lock onto any purported information that seems to show how shitty we can be. Now, there are 15 of these (as a countdown, of course), and I won't be repeating all of them here. 15. Stanford Prison Experiment If you're unfamiliar with this, Google it. Apparently they gave people roles to play: prisoner or guard. The "guards" ended up being shitty to the "prisoners." Its authors claim that the Stanford prison experiment basically proves that power corrupts, but there’s evidence that its subjects knew what they wanted and intentionally played up their roles of prisoner or guard or even were coached to do so. This is an early example of the shit they apparently pull on "reality" shows, which also make people look worse than they really are. 14. Kitty Genovese and the Bystander Effect This one made it into popular culture at least once, in the original Watchmen graphic novel. Turns out nearly everything we knew about it was sensationalized by a media outlet (go figure). The murder of Kitty Genovese, purportedly witnessed by 38 apathetic neighbors, inspired the theory that people won’t help someone if they assume someone else will do it, but in reality, only about six people witnessed any part of the attack, and no one saw it in its entirety, so it wasn’t clear how serious it was. While the murder itself was of course a tragedy, it wasn't compounded by witnesses failing to do anything about it. 11. Birth Order It’s long been believed that oldest siblings are the most mature and responsible, middle children are needy attention seekers, and babies are, well, babies, but a recent study of more than 1,000 people revealed no correlation between birth order and personality. Though it wouldn't surprise me if, as with astrology and generational labeling, if you tell someone they've got such-and-such a personality, they might actually incorporate it into their personality. This thus becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. So why not just tell people that we know they'll do the right thing? I know it won't work all the time, but can it hurt? 7. The 10,000-Hour Rule Confession: this is one I chose to believe. In my defense, it's not about how shitty people are, but how they can improve themselves. It turns out that practice only accounts for about 12% of skill mastery and there are plenty of people who will just always suck at stuff. Like me with music. I know I've spent more than 10,000 hours practicing various instruments, and I still can't carry a tune in a paper bag. 4. Maslow’s Hierarchy I see this one referenced everywhere, and it honestly surprised me that it's in dispute. ...but more recent research shows little support for the order of the hierarchy or any hierarchy at all. I can't say I took it at face value, but a lot of people seem to. 2. We Only Use 10% of Our Brains Perfidious nonsense, and the only thing that surprises me here is that people believed it wholeheartedly. There are no extraneous brain parts just bumming around in there, but the myth is so pervasive that one Brazilian survey from this century found that half of people still believe it. There was even that terrible Scarlett Johansson movie. Aw, it couldn't have been that bad if it had Scarlett Johansson in it. Like how Catwoman wasn't so bad because it had Halle Berry in it. 1. The Milgram Experiment I've seen this one bandied about, too. The idea being that, given the opportunity, it's in all of us to be unquestioning authoritarian assholes. If anything, it just proved that a lot of people are trolls. Which is still being an asshole, but at least not one of the fascist variety. A while back, someone designed a hitchhiking robot.  As described in that link:It gained international attention for successfully hitchhiking across Canada, Germany and the Netherlands, but in 2015 its attempt to hitchhike across the United States ended when it was stripped and decapitated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And lots of people used that story to vilify Philadelphia (which, to be fair, is easy to vilify), the US as opposed to other countries, or even humanity in general -- ignoring that the vast majority of people who interacted with HitchBOT, even in the US and part of Philadelphia, either left it alone or actively helped it. The point being that this supports my Lone Asshole Theory, because eventually it was going to come across someone with a baseball bat (I'm assuming baseball bat because it was Philly) or a crowbar (also Philly), but until then it traveled unmolested. Yeah, some people suck. But all the dubious studies, shitty kids-on-a-deserted-island books, and made-up statistics just don't provide enough evidence to show that all of us do. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
