Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for February 17, 2025

Danae discovers imaginary numbers

There is base 2, base 8, base 10, base 11, etc. She could ask an AI chatbot to find a base where her answer is correct.

Dear Wiley: Thank you very much for spelling “bated” correctly. Every time I see “baited breath”, I wonder, what does that smell like?

Don’t count on it.

‘Legal’ math, that’s how lawyers are able to squeeze 500 billing hours into a week having only 168 hours.

OK, lets hear it, Pythagoras.

An epiphanous moment is not to be taken lightly.

Alas, there’s no proof…

When I hear of someone creating a new math system, I think of Terrence Howard and cringe.

In all Problem-ability, it Danae Mather.

Teacher: “Kevin, if I gave you two cats and then gave you three cats, how many cats do you have?”

Kevin, finally explaining his repeated insistence on “Six”: “I already have one at home.”

MIT? “M.I.T. is a Clearasil ad with housing” Cordelia in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

If you just work the problem correctly, Danae, you will always be right.

All the above, informative as it is, doesn’t obscure the fact that Danae is on the move, which can bring a chill to the spines of those who know her propensity for mayhem.

Danae finally understands Scott Steiner math!?!

Https://www.youtube.Com/watch?v=msDuNZyYAIQ

considering the current president, this is suddenly less amusing

Tell me more…

I have a very cunning plan to reduce the price of a dozen eggs. We simply change a dozen, from 12 to 6, cut the cost in half and make our great and glorious leader happy.

I call a “Quantum Dozen”.

I use them to make a “Schrodinger’s Omelette”. Maybe it has chicken eggs and maybe not.

“Mathematics should only be studied, by those persons who are already dreadfully dull.” Benjamin Disraeli.

Steve Jobs always wore black. He claimed it saved time, not having to choose an outfit. Maybe he was color blind?

Blowin’ a gale here today. I’m off to Walmart. If you should see a small furry mammal being blown around the parking lot, that’s probably me.

Bates Linear Accelerator Center at M.I.T.

Can’t wait for the expla-danae-tion!

Irrational numbers?

Hooray for New Math:

htTps://ww w.youtube.Com/watch? v=DfCJgC2zezw

Danae clearly states she wants equity as her outcome, not correct answers.

A fellow teacher told me that she did not “get” algebra until she had to teach it. AP teachers have told me they may be only a few days ahead of their classes in the curriculum. A good way to learn things.

T-shirt saying: Dear Math: SOLVE YOUR OWN PROBLEMS!

I can’t wait to see how she tackles dimensional analysis

I never cared for basic math, all the rote learning of tables, and the longer equations and having to get each calculation, each digit exactly right. But I was fascinated by some of the aspects of advanced, “out there” math — topology (especially the mobius band), fractals (especially the Mandelbrot set), fuzzy logic, and chaos theory.

we can be friends or i can correct your spelling…

But does her new math add up?

If you allow for division by 0, you can “prove” all sorts of loopy things like “1=2.”

Yeah babe, you and Will Hunting right ? You’re the Shepard sport ! ;-)

Oh boy, she’s probably doing math Terrence Howard style.

I’m left wondering how many folks have learned these two spellings but still think both words mean the same thing: “having something to do with fishing, animal traps, scams, etc.” For those folks, a hint: “Bate” and “bated” don’t have anything to do with fish bait, or any other kind of bait.

Terence Howard and Math, that is why he USED to be War Machine. His Math does not work.

And the math teacher’s just gonna have fun with those answers…

A flexible set of postulates does the trick.

Well, don’t hold back – tell us how it works; after all, if the book says so, it MUST be right!

Quick! Call Elon! She’ll make sense of DOGE’s dodgy economics.

Do you get bated breath from eating worms?

“Oh, you can’t take 3 from 2, 3 is more than 2, so you look at the 4 in the tens place …” – Tom Lehrer, “New Math”

Pi=3. Been done Danae.

Hehehe, I loved math too when I was little

I can’t wait to see how this turns out!

There is nothing wrong with the smell of rotting squid and old sardines when converted into the Dungeness Crabs you buy for about $11.00 bucks a Lb…..

That’s what Baited breath smells like….

….

My mother couldn’t understand why I couldn’t ‘get’ mathematics; she’d say that there could only ever be a correct answer – “See? It’s simple .. there’s only one answer (that’s correct).” I was much more interested in English, and especially in the interpretation of texts. My interpretation of certain poems, or extracts from (mainly) Shakespearean plays, differed from the teacher’s, and then you could have a discussion. Even at the end, you could retain your own interpretation.

“Even at the end, you could retain your own interpretation.”

But so could the teacher. Did your grades reflect yours … or theirs?

Not being confrontational. Just curious.