26 MAR 2013 by ideonexus
π in Base-26 Will Produce All the Works of Shakespeare
Base 26 is one of two fairly natural ways of representing numbers
as text using a 26-letter alphabet. The number of interest is
expressed numerically in base 26, and then the 26 different base-26
digits are identified with letters as 0=A, 1=B, 2=C, ... 25=Z.
Here are the first 100 digits of pi expressed in this way:
D.DRSQLOLYRTRODNLHNQTGKUDQGTUIRXNEQBCKBSZIVQQVGDMELM
UEXROIQIYALVUZVEBMIJPQQXLKPLRNCFWJPBYMGGOHJMMQISMS...
Lo! At the 6th digit we find a two-letter word (LO), and only a
...
2 By assigning letters to numbers in the irrational number, we can produce the effect of a million monkeys on a million typewriters for a million years.
26 SEP 2012 by ideonexus
The Naming of the Monkey King
The Patriarch smiled and said, "Though you have rather a base sort of body, you look like one of the rhesus
monkeys that eat pine seeds, and I ought to give you a surname that fits your appearance and call you Hu
('Macaque'). The elements that make up the character Hu are 'animal,' 'old' and 'moon'. What is old is ancient,
and the moon embodies the Negative principle, and what is ancient and Negative cannot be transformed. But I
think I would do much better to call you Sun ('Monkey'). Apart f... 1 
notes
notesSun Wukong, which means 'Monkey Awakened to Emptiness'
21 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Hell for Scientists
I had at one time a very bad fever of which I almost died. In my fever I had a long consistent delirium. I dreamt that I was in Hell, and that Hell is a place full of all those happenings that are improbable but not impossible. The effects of this are curious. Some of the damned, when they first arrive below, imagine that they will beguile the tedium of eternity by games of cards. But they find this impossible, because, whenever a pack is shuffled, it comes out in perfect order, beginning wit... 1 notes
notesIs a place where the improbable occurs everywhere.
21 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Mathematicians Who Can Only Generalize or Specialize
A mathematician who can only generalise is like a monkey who can only climb UP a tree. ... And a mathematician who can only specialise is like a monkey who can only climb DOWN a tree. In fact neither the up monkey nor the down monkey is a viable creature. A real monkey must find food and escape his enemies and so must be able to incessantly climb up and down. A real mathematician must be able to generalise and specialise. ... There is, I think, a moral for the teacher. A teacher of traditiona...Folksonomies: mathematics methodology
Folksonomies: mathematics methodology
1 notes
notesThey are like monkeys that can only climb either up or down a tree, nonviable.
11 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
We Must Become Comfortable with Large Numbers
Borel makes the amusing supposition of a million monkeys allowed to play upon the keys of a million typewriters. What is the chance that this wanton activity should reproduce exactly all of the volumes which are contained in the library of the British Museum? It certainly is not a large chance, but it may be roughly calculated, and proves in fact to be considerably larger than the chance that a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen will separate into the two pure constituents. After we have learned ...In order to understand why a million monkey on a million typewriters might produce a great work of art.
11 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Mark Twain's Description of Evolution
Adam is fading out. It is on account of Darwin and that crowd. I can see that he is not going to last much longer. There's a plenty of signs. He is getting belittled to a germ—a little bit of a speck that you can't see without a microscope powerful enough to raise a gnat to the size of a church. They take that speck and breed from it: first a flea; then a fly, then a bug, then cross these and get a fish, then a raft of fishes, all kinds, then cross the whole lot and get a reptile, then work...Folksonomies: humor big history
Folksonomies: humor big history
1 notes
notesWitty.
23 MAR 2012 by ideonexus
Proud to be Descendant of Monkeys
For my own part I would as soon be descended from that heroic little monkey, who braved his dreaded enemy in order to save the life of his keeper; or from that old baboon, who, descending from the mountains, carried away in triumph his young comrade from a crowd of astonished dogs—as from a savage who delights to torture his enemies, offers up bloody sacrifices, practices infanticide without remorse, treats his wives like slaves, knows no decency, and is haunted by the grossest superstitions. 1 notes
notesWho often exhibit acts of heroism and valor compared to humans who often don't.
28 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Better to be a Perfected Ape than Degraded Adam
As for me ... I would much rather be a perfected ape than a degraded Adam. Yes, if it is shown to me that my humble ancestors were quadrupedal animals, arboreal herbivores, brothers or cousins of those who were also the ancestors of monkeys and apes, far from blushing in shame for my species because of its genealogy and parentage, I will be proud of all that evolution has accomplished, of the continuous improvement which takes us up to the highest order, of the successive triumphs that have m... 1 notes
notesA quote from Paul Broca about being proud of our evolutionary advancement.
