5 ms·

Typically, you'd use G when picking a variable name for a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_(mathematics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_(mathematics) T

Typically, you'd use G when picking a variable name for a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_(mathematics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_(mathematics) The equivalent programmer joke might be something like "int str;" or "string array_length;" It's kind of funny in the "oh that's a really bad joke" kind of way :)

waqf 9y ago
"Let ε<0." Or a similar but more blatant telling of the original joke would be "Let ℵ₀ be a group."
- magoghm 9y ago
  "Let ε<0." There goes the neighborhood!
  - keithpeter 9y ago
    Excellent. Thankyou very much. I teach basic Maths to adults in the UK, so I tend to use these old faves... "What did the zero say to the eight?" "Nice belt" (even my sister has heard that one) "Why does noone talk to circles?" "There's no point" Thankyou and goodnight
    - mcguire 9y ago
      Why is six afraid of seven? Because seven eight nine. Never grep a yacc by the inode.
- ptero 9y ago
  For what real values of i does the sum of ε^i, taken ε=1 to infinity, converge? Our real analysis lecturer once put this question on the blackboard (with sum as the proper scientific sum notation). Even though we all knew the answer as trivial it took most of us some time to figure it out in such screwy notation (his point was that our mind is not invariant WRT notation, do not make up monsters when the normal schemas exist)
- madcaptenor 9y ago
  In 2005, which had a very bad hurricane season in the Atlantic, (that was the year of Katrina, Rita, and Wilma) they ran out of names for hurricanes and had to use Greek letters. The last hurricane of the season was called Epsilon. Due to my mathematical training I found it very hard to be scared of it.
  - majewsky 9y ago
    Due to my training in parser theory, this hurricane is unnamed.
    - _0ffh 9y ago
      Due to my training in automata theory, this hurricane may trigger state changes without consuming input symbols.
      - majewsky 9y ago
        Which is intuitive since only tornados are known to consume input symbols.
kodis 9y ago
A bit less concise but still my favorite: An infinite number of mathematicians walk into a bar (which I already think is funny) and the first orders a pint of ale, the second orders a half pint, the third orders a quarter pint. After this goes on for a bit the bartender looks disgusted, slams two pints on the counter and says "You mathematicians really have to get to know your limits!"

waqf 9y ago

"Let ε<0." Or a similar but more blatant telling of the original joke would be "Let ℵ₀ be a group."

magoghm 9y ago
"Let ε<0." There goes the neighborhood!
- keithpeter 9y ago
  Excellent. Thankyou very much. I teach basic Maths to adults in the UK, so I tend to use these old faves... "What did the zero say to the eight?" "Nice belt" (even my sister has heard that one) "Why does noone talk to circles?" "There's no point" Thankyou and goodnight
  - mcguire 9y ago
    Why is six afraid of seven? Because seven eight nine. Never grep a yacc by the inode.
ptero 9y ago
For what real values of i does the sum of ε^i, taken ε=1 to infinity, converge? Our real analysis lecturer once put this question on the blackboard (with sum as the proper scientific sum notation). Even though we all knew the answer as trivial it took most of us some time to figure it out in such screwy notation (his point was that our mind is not invariant WRT notation, do not make up monsters when the normal schemas exist)
madcaptenor 9y ago
In 2005, which had a very bad hurricane season in the Atlantic, (that was the year of Katrina, Rita, and Wilma) they ran out of names for hurricanes and had to use Greek letters. The last hurricane of the season was called Epsilon. Due to my mathematical training I found it very hard to be scared of it.
- majewsky 9y ago
  Due to my training in parser theory, this hurricane is unnamed.
  - _0ffh 9y ago
    Due to my training in automata theory, this hurricane may trigger state changes without consuming input symbols.
    - majewsky 9y ago
      Which is intuitive since only tornados are known to consume input symbols.

kodis 9y ago

A bit less concise but still my favorite: An infinite number of mathematicians walk into a bar (which I already think is funny) and the first orders a pint of ale, the second orders a half pint, the third orders a quarter pint. After this goes on for a bit the bartender looks disgusted, slams two pints on the counter and says "You mathematicians really have to get to know your limits!"