Re: Trolls (was Re: My best machpoint percentage ever (80.21%))

[EMAIL PROTECTED] (vida) wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...

without much visible chum or troll, lauched into apparently his 
favorite subject:  math Jokes.

Vida, thanks for your intro of some levity into this ng, but I 
think you might find some other ngs more appreciative of your math
jokes.  But I'll pull a couple of good ones (just to play along 
this OT game here once, in rgb) from rec.humor and sci.math just to
illustrate this point.


> 
> several scientists were asked to prove that all odd integers higher
> than 2 are prime.

A "generalization" would be "all odd numbers are prime".

> mathematician: 3 is a prime, 5 is a prime, 7 is a prime, and by
> induction - every odd integer higher than 2 is a prime.

Since all of your jokes started with "3 is a prime, 5 is ...", here's
a mathematician's proof that your assertions are all wet, because he
claims the first step of your inductive proof is wrong. 

>From sci.math:

Ah, but your induction does not stand on a solid base.  The first step
is wrong since 3 is definitely not a prime.

Proof:  (i=sqrt(-1))

3/2  =  (sqrt(-1)-sqrt(-1))/4i + 3/2
     =  (sqrt(-1/1)-sqrt(1/-1))/4i + 3/2
     =  (sqrt(-1)/sqrt(1)-sqrt(1)/sqrt(-1))/4i + 3/2
     =  (sqrt(1)^2 - sqrt(-1)^2)/4 + 3/2
     =  2/4 + 3/2   
     =  2

Therefore 3/2=2, 3 is divisible by 2 and not prime.  QED


Ok.  So that's too high-brow perhaps.  You have to know something 
about complex numbers and the imaginary number "i".


Here'are a cuople of low-brow ones from rec.humor:

>From rec.humor.  Thread: --  Proof:  All odd numbers are prime.

The economist says: Let us assume that, ceteris paribus, all odd
numbers are prime ... 

The Keynsean economist says: Since no integer greater than one can
divide a prime number, all primes greater than two are odd. Q.E.D.


A more interesting problem would be to prove that ALL numbers are
"interesting".  I am sure you can easily find numerous proofs in 
various ngs, but it'll be left as an exercise when you have too much
time on your hand.

-- Bob.