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Nothing new, but a good reminder of the idiocy of many not blessed with an education in mathematics, logic or Enlightenment thought. We, HN readers, are lucky t

Nothing new, but a good reminder of the idiocy of many not blessed with an education in mathematics, logic or Enlightenment thought. We, HN readers, are lucky to be so educated, so please let's do our best to bring more into the fold of fun with numbers. There are people like this still out there!

tokenadult 13y ago
Rather than engaging in self-congratulation here, it might be a good idea to take a look at this part of the article (which was not submitted here with its actual title on Wikipedia): "Despite that name [the Indiana Pi Bill], the main result claimed by the bill is a method to square the circle, rather than to establish a certain value for the mathematical constant π (pi), the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter." It's not clear to me that there has been any increase in this era in the percentage of politically involved persons who even know what "squaring the circle" is, much less who know the outline of the proof of why squaring the circle with Euclidean tools is impossible. Indeed, the whole notion of proof seems to be vanishing from secondary school teaching in geometry, so a bill about a method for squaring the circle might be even more confusing to voters today than it was then. Back then and now, it was important to listen patiently to an expert, a mathematician, to understand the flaw in the bill's proposed solution.
- triplesec 13y ago
  You're being somewhat curmudgeonly here, I believe. There is no self-congratulation, rather an exhortation to us all to remember how it's still crucial to be spreading the love and teaching of basic principles of maths. The fact that this even got close to legislation is remarkable, and wouldn't have happened with a numerate and educated legislature (even I dare say the current US Congress, though that may be debatable). It's a good fable for us, and it can only be constructive to encourage action upon its lesson, in realising that there are many still who'd rather believe in magic rather than engage in thought and play with numbers.

tokenadult 13y ago

Rather than engaging in self-congratulation here, it might be a good idea to take a look at this part of the article (which was not submitted here with its actual title on Wikipedia): "Despite that name [the Indiana Pi Bill], the main result claimed by the bill is a method to square the circle, rather than to establish a certain value for the mathematical constant π (pi), the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter." It's not clear to me that there has been any increase in this era in the percentage of politically involved persons who even know what "squaring the circle" is, much less who know the outline of the proof of why squaring the circle with Euclidean tools is impossible. Indeed, the whole notion of proof seems to be vanishing from secondary school teaching in geometry, so a bill about a method for squaring the circle might be even more confusing to voters today than it was then. Back then and now, it was important to listen patiently to an expert, a mathematician, to understand the flaw in the bill's proposed solution.

triplesec 13y ago
You're being somewhat curmudgeonly here, I believe. There is no self-congratulation, rather an exhortation to us all to remember how it's still crucial to be spreading the love and teaching of basic principles of maths. The fact that this even got close to legislation is remarkable, and wouldn't have happened with a numerate and educated legislature (even I dare say the current US Congress, though that may be debatable). It's a good fable for us, and it can only be constructive to encourage action upon its lesson, in realising that there are many still who'd rather believe in magic rather than engage in thought and play with numbers.