I'm not sure I like the idea that there's anything special about this. Making an arbitrary sequence that suddenly diverges isn't hard: f(k) = k^(max(0,k-5)). Involving real numbers just adds to the repertoire of hiding techniques.
What comes next: π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, ...?
11–20 of 58 posts
Re: What comes next: π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, ...?
#12Re: What comes next: π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, ...?
#13This reminds me of another "surprise" series: 0, 1, 2, 720!, ...
You gave it away with a slight error - the sequence is 0, 1, 2, 720...
For the curious, the sequence follows factorial (!) applied twice, i.e. (0!)!, (1!)! etc. (3!)! is 720, and (4!)! is 6.20448402 × 10^23.
Re: What comes next: π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, ...?
#14Re: What comes next: π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, ...?
#15While the story at the end about the bug report is humourous, it's a pretty mean thing to do. Perhaps 3 days lost work was longer than the expected damage, but one would imagine it would waste at least a few hours of someone's time, which is not something I'd feel good about. On an unrelated note, sometimes using a computer not configured to British English I get spelling corrections for words like "humourous" above,…
Interestingly, while humor/humour is a US/British difference, humorous/humourous is not, the latter is just rare/unusual.
Re: What comes next: π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, ...?
#16This reminds me of another "surprise" series: 0, 1, 2, 720!, ...
You gave it away with a slight error - the sequence is 0, 1, 2, 720... For the curious, the sequence follows factorial (!) applied twice, i.e. (0!)!, (1!)! etc. (3!)! is 720, and (4!)! is 6.20448402 × 10^23.
I have (0!)! = (1!)! = 1 over here.
Re: What comes next: π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, ...?
#17This reminds me of another "surprise" series: 0, 1, 2, 720!, ...
You gave it away with a slight error - the sequence is 0, 1, 2, 720... For the curious, the sequence follows factorial (!) applied twice, i.e. (0!)!, (1!)! etc. (3!)! is 720, and (4!)! is 6.20448402 × 10^23.
In that case the sequence should be 1, 1, 2, 720... as zero factorial equals one.
Re: What comes next: π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, ...?
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
You gave it away with a slight error - the sequence is 0, 1, 2, 720... For the curious, the sequence follows factorial (!) applied twice, i.e. (0!)!, (1!)! etc. (3!)! is 720, and (4!)! is 6.20448402 × 10^23.
In that case the sequence should be 1, 1, 2, 720... as zero factorial equals one . https://www.google.com/search?q=0 !
Oops, quite right!
Re: What comes next: π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, ...?
#19This is why I don't like "what comes next in this sequence" questions. Most of the time I can come up with a reason for choosing the answer I do, but that's not necessarily the same reason as the question asker has for their "correct" answer.
Precisely. The correct answer to such questions, whenever they don't include additional context/restrictions, is "Anything at all."
Re: What comes next: π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, π/2, ...?
#20I actually did find the "nightmare dilemmas" on the site more interesting.
http://www.thebigquestions.com/2012/03/22/another-nightmare/
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Today’s Dilemma In front of you are two childless married couples. For some reason, it’s imperative that you kill two of the four people. Your choices are:
A. Kill one randomly chosen member from each couple. B. Kill both members of a randomly chosen couple.
All four people agree that if they die, they want to be well remembered. Therefore all four ask you, please, to choose A so that anyone who dies will be remembered by a loving spouse.
If you care about the four people in front of you, what should you do?
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Argument 1. For goodness’s sake, they’ve told you what to do. If you care about them, of course you should respect their wishes. Choose A.
Argument 2.Once the killings are over, Option A leaves two grieving spouses, whereas Option B leaves one relieved couple. Surely two dead plus two happy is better than two dead plus two sad. Choose B.
Which argument do you buy? And what’s wrong with the other one?
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