A young friend, middle 30s, approached me with a bit of spooky (to him) information. It seems that when pi ( "π")--3.14--is written on a piece of paper and held up to a mirror, it reads "pie." Now, this information was presented in the same vein as listening to music played backwards, some sort of satanic or mystical message. ???
Pie/pi/ "π" Day is March 14--3.14
I wrote 3.14 and held it up to a mirror. No, it approximates "pie."
I wrote 3.14159, held it up to the mirror, and it was nothing. This was just silliness on my part.
First of all, 3.14 is not all of pi. It is a shortened version that we just use so we won't have to use 67,000+ numbers in a simple calculation. I use 3.14159 or 3.1416 for "π". So far, no one has found that pi ( "π") is a repeating number, just still an irrational number.
I really worry when religion tries to make a mystical connection to John 3:14 (For God so loved the world...), the ratio of a circumference to diameter of a circle, pi, and pie viewed backwards. That is hard work and lots of mental gymnastics--the world is round, the center of the circle for the radius is God, 3 is the trinity.
Rant over.
Your turn
Did you celebrate Pie Day? I love it. Kids will at least talk math for one day.
Except for here in the blogosphere Pi day passed me by. And I agree with you about the gymnastics involved in making mystical connections. Unnecessary, often silly, and sometimes dangerous.
ReplyDeleteEC,
ReplyDeleteI suppose being in school or having children helps to keep up with Pi day. A guy with two children alerted me. Okay, so I am not just overly critical. Thanks for the comment.
I know nothing about Pi day and I'm the mom of a mathematician.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Janie,
DeleteAsk the mathematician and get back to me.
I daren't ask her anything. She's too busy.
DeleteJohn 3:14
ReplyDeleteEnglish Standard Version (ESV)
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
The verse you quoted was John 3:16 :-)
So I did...lol. Thanks.
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