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> Travel exactly due East. Now, ignore what East means. It's "face east, then travel in a straight line," not "travel due East" (though I agree that the title
by enoch_r 2y ago
> Travel exactly due East. Now, ignore what East means.
It's "face east, then travel in a straight line," not "travel due East" (though I agree that the title itself is misleading).
IMO, it's a cool thought experiment because it demonstrates that an instruction to "travel in a straight line" is incompatible with an instruction to "travel due East" (unless you're on the equator!) - as the North Pole example illustrates. Start 3 feet south of the North Pole and face east, then start traveling in a straight line. Obviously after 10 or 100 or 1000 miles of travel you'll be essentially due south of the pole - and in fact, if you take a single step to the left, you will be exactly due south of the pole!
- cush 2y agoEveryone's replying as if the title and image don't exist
- RaftPeople 2y ago> It's "face east, then travel in a straight line," not "travel due East" (though I agree that the title itself is misleading). It's a fun and interesting problem, but just to be the contrarian: The solution didn't travel in a straight line any more than the alternate (incorrect solution), both resulted in arcs.
- yencabulator 2y agoAny straight line that's tangential to the surface of a sphere will lead off the sphere.