Math, we like to say, is math. It often seems that mathematics is something beyond our control—something unyielding, universal, inhuman. Yes and no.

What’s your mathematical style?

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2024-09-19 18:30:07

Math, we like to say, is math. It often seems that mathematics is something beyond our control—something unyielding, universal, inhuman.

Yes and no. Math may be the language of the cosmos, but it’s also a human language, with its own quirky etymologies, classic literature, and hilarious regional accents. In fact, you could say that math has as many styles—as many idiolects—as it has speakers.

(d) It’s a coded message to my android brain. To escape the time loop, we must follow Commander Riker’s plan and decompress the main shuttle bay.

(c) Oops, I sampled uniformly from the unit interval and got something non-computable. I can’t express it in finite time. Sorry.

(d) I assume you’re asking “If you could live on a giant piece of pasta, what shape would you pick?” Well, long story short: cascatelli.

(b) Vehemently opposed. The US date format is inferior, 3.14 is a worse approximation than 22/7, and digit memorization is… wait, where are you going?