Unwanted Whales Clarification

no way...we NEED that mobile app and we've been patiently waiting. let's not do anything to slow that project down.

 

While I probably won't do the third round, it's not because I have any issue with Cam. Cam is a very stand-up BA with a long track record of awesomeness. It's obviously sad that this happened, and I'm very glad I wasn't involved (a couple dudes would have to be VERY patient if I were), but I think it's entirely forgivable.

 

The second someone uses the word algorithms for a BIF -
I'm lost. so much math for something so subjective. I should have taken calculus in school. Instead I was drinking beer.

 

As a math teacher, let me just point out that these are not mutually exclusive (more math terms!).

 

Can you give me a brief explanation of Fermat's last theorem?
It was constantly mentioned in Girl That Kicked a Hornet's Nest and I don't think I understood it too well... Wiki was of no help.

It seems like a slight variation in the exponents of the pythagorean theorem, but instead of being true, it is false?!

People then spent hundreds of years trying to 'prove' that it was false?

 

It's already been slowed down...

 

The best example is a 3, 4, 5 triangle in the Pythagorean equation. a^2 + b^2 = c^2. 9 + 16 = 25. This equation works for any number of examples when the exponent is squared, however Fermat's last theorem states that the equation doesn't work for any other exponent integer larger than 2 (e.g., cubed or to the ^4th power, etc).

He never actually provided a proof of the theorem, and instead in 1637 wrote "I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of this, which this margin is too narrow to contain." Many believe he was being facetious. A real proof wasn't discovered until 1995 by Andrew Wiles.

So yes, people spent hundreds of years trying to prove that exponents larger than 2 didn't ever work in the Pythagorean equation. It took nearly 358 years to prove that Fermat's last theorem was indeed correct.

Oh, and I'm and finance manager/CPA, so someone that is a math expert please correct me if that's not quite correct.

 

If it wouldn't be viewed as stepping on anyone's (especially Urbancaver's) toes, I'd be willing and interested to run something like that. Is there actual interest? (Say same concept with nicer non-whale bottles?) Though after watching the attacks on Urbancaver for his error, I wouldn't participate if I ran it...

 

Someone else (neorunner) already runs one, called the Math BIF. The format is a little different (there's no ranking system for the entire list), but the basic premise is the same, where you only receive beers you rank higher than your own. I think you should be able to find a Hauls thread on the new forums, but I'm too lazy to search it out right now.

EDIT: Found it. http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/math-trade-5-hauls-contd.158/

 

So, basically, the sum of 2 cubes could never result in a number that was a cube itself?
I suppose the question I then have to ask, why did people feel the need to prove this? It seems individuals have spent years of their lives trying to solve this? Is it only because Fermat wrote that bit in the margin? That little facetious scribble incited a furious attempt to discover the proof? Is this just how mathematicians are, like the scientific mind and all that?

Could I just make a claim that something is mathematically true (and hint I have a proof)? Would I get people devoting years to solving it?


I get euclidian geometry, and I'm pretty good with the non-euclidian, but my mathematical weakness is (and always been) algebra... This topic makes me want to study math.

I think it's the great tragedy of life that we cannot learn ALL of the available knowledge out there.

 

Try telling that to anonymous posters on the internet.

 

First, Fermat's last theorem is part of the study of Number Theory (someone correct me if I'm wrong on this) in which the most basic applications (and of course more advanced applications) of integers are proved through rigorous examination. In other words, the very basics are covered.

It helps to know something about Fermat, as well. The guy was brilliant, and his margin remarks were quite common. A number of them led to the development of calculus, and because of his remarkable perception in other fields, and the fact no one could find a suitable counter example, mathematicians were drawn to his 'proved' hypothesis. When no one could solve it or disprove it, the legacy lent the theory a special reputation. (I'm not convinced the new proof replicates what Fermat found, either.) But part of being a mathematician is the mystery of numbers, IMO.

So, no, you couldn't just write some weird little scribble and have mathematicians scrabble over it as a great new problem. Not unless you begin the development of a whole new field of mathematics.

 

I think the Internet is quite possibly the greatest technological invention of our species. Instead of devoting my life to reading the past philosophical works of the ancients for some gems, I can familiarize myself with many of their main points in a day or two. It makes me have even more respect for those brilliant minds that couldn't possibly access all the best ideas, and instead had to work through everything on their own.

the internet has lead to a complete dispersal of information-- it is the greatest tool since the printing press was invented.

 

The best you can hope for is to hype an unknown beer to whale status.

 

That looks like it was pretty epic. I'd love to run the same thing, but I'm still new enough around these parts that I'd be worried that doing so would be stepping on someone's toes... I remember there was a minor kerfuffle when the first Unwanted Whales started for exactly that reason. Anyone have a sense of whether or not it'd be kosher to start one up?

 

I would suggest that if you want to run a BIF, run something very small and lower stakes. Save the crazier stuff for after you have your feet under you.

 

I would love to participate in this. Neorunner's Math BIF is great, but it'd be even better to be able to rank a whole list, rather than having to target three beers! Obviously the scale of such a task could be a deterant.

Maybe message neorunner?

 

And don't forget about the ****.

 

You and I both know I never forget about the ****!