How about "omega" as the symbol?
1) It wont bother the physicists as much as tau.
2) Omega has a circular shape which makes it a 'natural' choice for the circle constant.
No, really, pi is wrong: The Tau Manifesto (Tau Day, 2010)
141–150 of 159 posts
Re: No, really, pi is wrong: The Tau Manifesto (Tau Day, 2010)
#142I may get down modded for this but I just have to say, this is more like a religious propaganda than science. Throughout the article they have only demonstrated how a particular community is more comfortable with using double pi. I totally believe in what wwortiz said in his/her(sorry cannot open your website) post. If they like the tau so much they should be writing papers on its advantage. I think scientists should…
Your comment doesn't fit the article very well which may be why it is being downvoted. "this is more like a religious propaganda than science" First of all, it is about math, not science. And it is not like religious propaganda, which relies on authority or faith. It clearly and cogently explains reasons why using tau is better than pi. "Throughout the article they have only demonstrated how a particular community is…
Hold off on the "he is not a scientist" line... the Caltech Physics Ph.D. (a theorist, not some namby-pamby experimentalist) does give Michael the street cred to rant about such things.
Now if only he used his powers for good instead of evil...
Re: No, really, pi is wrong: The Tau Manifesto (Tau Day, 2010)
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, no, no. Your Earth-centered physics is not wrong. It's perhaps "bad", or "awkward", "clumsy" or "suboptimal", but not wrong. The word wrong should be reserved for factually incorrect statements (unless you are discussing morals), otherwise it's been diluted to meaninglessness. It's better. See, you already agree with me. It's not "right", it may be "better" (though I question that fact, too.)
According to the OED, wrong as an adverb: 5. The fact or position of acting unjustly or indefensibly; 6. Not right or satisfactory in state or order; in unsatisfactory or bad condition; amiss. 7. a. Not adapted, according, or answering to intention, requirement, or purpose; not proper, fitting, or appropriate; unsuitable. Any and all of which, but particularly #7, apply to the use of the term wrong in the tauday site…
Only because you pulled out the OED did I feel it might be acceptable to point out that in the sentence "Pi is wrong", "wrong" is an adjective, not an adverb.
More to the point, in the online OED as I see it, definitions 1 and 2 deal with physical shape, 3 and 4 deal with moral character, and interestingly, my 5) differs from yours, being given as follows :
5. a. Not in conformity with some standard, rule, or principle; deviating from that which is correct or proper; contrary to, at variance with, what one approves or regards as right. b. Not in consonance with facts or truth; incorrect, false, mistaken. c. Of belief, etc.: Partaking of or based on error; erroneous. d. Of a painting: having an erroneous attribution.
Given that it's not until we get to 6 and 7 that we find definitions regarding quality of 'state or order' or 'appropriate' and 'suitable', I think readers are quite justified in finding the OP's use of "wrong" to be at least very freely used -- which was, of course, part of the whole point.
Re: No, really, pi is wrong: The Tau Manifesto (Tau Day, 2010)
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't forget, though, AD stands for Anno Domini, which means "in the year of our Lord." Which is a little more than just acknowledgement.
The "our" translation is just convention, not actually there in the latin.
Actually, AD is the shortened form for "the year of our Lord". The "Year of our Lord" came first, before the initials.
Re: No, really, pi is wrong: The Tau Manifesto (Tau Day, 2010)
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is another dating system which aims to get around this, by actually changing the numbers, which is called Before Present (BP). It sets 0 to be January 1, 1950, as an arbitrary date of the present. So, 1500 BP is 450 AD. I see it used most often it dealing with archaeology.
Unix epoch had it right. Let's just all count seconds before/after 1 Jan 1970.
A slight complication to this solution is that the length of a year is not exactly divisible to seconds, or even of constant length. So counting seconds is fundamentally different from, though pretty close to, counting years.
Re: No, really, pi is wrong: The Tau Manifesto (Tau Day, 2010)
#146How about "omega" as the symbol? 1) It wont bother the physicists as much as tau. 2) Omega has a circular shape which makes it a 'natural' choice for the circle constant.
omega is the symbol of choice for angular frequency, which is very related to pi, as angular frequency = 2 pi frequency (there is another 2 pi for you right there).
Re: No, really, pi is wrong: The Tau Manifesto (Tau Day, 2010)
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're technically correct, the best kind. I'd argue, however, that 'irrational' is closer to what he meant, than the exactness of what he said. Any time you move between a layman's understanding and a detailed technical one, the abstraction can leak. I think 'irrational' matches up with intuition better, even if it's described as 'non-terminating.' People don't talk about 2/3 in the same way they talk about π.
> I think 'irrational' matches up with intuition better, even if it's described as 'non-terminating.' well, counter example, 1.22333444455555..... is an irrational number, but it's somehow easy to understand rationally. LOL Also it's worthy point out decimals are heavily related to positional notation. Another fun example is we can use base-e number system for maximum calculation efficiency. Or better, base-tau. So 6…
Rational numbers have more to do with ratios than reason.
Re: No, really, pi is wrong: The Tau Manifesto (Tau Day, 2010)
#148How about "omega" as the symbol? 1) It wont bother the physicists as much as tau. 2) Omega has a circular shape which makes it a 'natural' choice for the circle constant.
omega is the symbol of choice for angular frequency, which is very related to pi, as angular frequency = 2 pi frequency (there is another 2 pi for you right there).
That's omega in its minuscule form. I was referring to its majuscule one.
Re: No, really, pi is wrong: The Tau Manifesto (Tau Day, 2010)
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
omega is the symbol of choice for angular frequency, which is very related to pi, as angular frequency = 2 pi frequency (there is another 2 pi for you right there).
That's omega in its minuscule form. I was referring to its majuscule one.
Oh, I assumed that "omega" is minuscule, and "Omega" would be majuscule, just like in LaTeX. That's why I started the sentence with a small letter. I missed your mentioning its circular shape.
Re: No, really, pi is wrong: The Tau Manifesto (Tau Day, 2010)
#150I must say, they are some beautiful arguments you have put forward!