[ExI] Goldbach Conjecture, the frisbee analogy to tranhumanism

Will Steinberg asyluman at gmail.com
Sat Nov 28 18:35:00 UTC 2009


This is a good analogy, spike.  But right now I am in the throes of
mathematical mania, and so I have rejiggered the problem for myself once
again. Consider what is to be proven: P != 2nmodp + pk.  The modulo
operation here can be rewritten as 2n- p[2n/p] (where brackets denote the
floor function).  So we have: 2n-p[2n/p] +pk != P.  Dividing by p gives
this:  2n/p - [2n/p] +k != P/p.  This is wonderful.  We have restated the
question as such:  If the fractional part of 2n/p (p being any applicable
prime) cannot equal the fractional part of P/p, there is a hole in the sieve
and the conjecture is true.  But I belive the fractional parts will never be
equal,. because P/p will always produce an "odd" fractional part and 2n/p an
even one.

kyew ee dee?

On Sat, Nov 28, 2009 at 12:59 PM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:

> On Behalf Of Will Steinberg
>        Subject: Re: [ExI] Goldbach Conjecture
>
>
> >       If it can be proved that every two-way sieve of eratosthenes has at
> least one hole, the conjecture can be proven.  What this means is that
> (since oles are at 2k, 3k, 5k, nmod2+2k, nmod5+5k, etc.) ...What is needed
> to continue is a way to prove there will always be a p that doesn't equal
> nmodp +pk.  Will Steinberg
>
>
>        2009/11/28 spike <spike66 at att.net>
>
>                > ...On Behalf Of Giulio Prisco (2nd email)
>                > Subject: Re: [ExI] Goldbach Conjecture
>                >
>                > I think the Goldbach conjecture is probably false, with
>                > probability 1 (that means, certainly false). Here is
> why:... Giulio
>
>
>                I disagree sir, however I confess my line of reasoning is
> not as well developed as the one you offer...           spike
>
>
> Clearly I took an engineer's approach to the question, which sidesteps the
> real question.  With this I reveal myself as merely an engineer who likes
> math and not the genuine article.  I offer for your Saturday morning
> entertainment the frisbee analogy to the Goldbach conjecture, along with
> the
> extropian and transhumanist angle to this discussion.
>
> In my teens I had a doberman who loved to play frisbee, but wasn't quite
> capable of catching the device in flight.  He would chase it, knock it
> down,
> carry it back, have a blast, but he couldn't quite leap and catch.  He was
> close, often attempted it, never managed the task.  My dog was a terrific
> athlete, brave, fierce, fast, coordinated, a magnificent beast was he.  He
> once slew a rattlesnake single-pawedly, or single-mouthedly(?) but in any
> case without help from me or Mister Twelve Gage.  Oddly he had a close
> relative (in human terms his niece) who could catch a frisbee in flight.
> His niece was actually a clumsy dog in some ways, but not in that.  She got
> better at it over time.  My dog would watch her catch that frisbee with a
> kind of amazement, as if to say "How does that bitch do it?"
>
> Catching the frisbee is an example of a skill that is right on the ragged
> edge of that particular breed's abilities.  Most dobies cannot, a few can.
> If we bred only the catchers, I can easily imagine we could create a
> frisbee
> catching breed.  On the other hand, actually throwing the frisbee is a
> skill
> outside the abilities of any dog that I know of.  If my dog could throw a
> frisbee, what fun he and the other dogs could have!  The dogs would watch
> in
> amazement as I and the other two-legged beasts would throw that frisbee
> back
> and to.  They worshipped us.
>
> The great unsolved mathematical conjectures such as Goldbach, my own search
> for an odd perfect number, and (until 1995) Fermats, are examples of
> humanity's version of the dobies' frisbee problem.  These are questions
> right on the ragged edge of our species' abilities.  Guys like Andrew Wiles
> demonstrate that these kinds of problems can be solved, given enough
> effort.
> We have solved a number of rattlesnake problems, but these questions are
> our
> frisbees.
>
> We as a species have before us some immediate and urgent frisbee problems,
> such as the energy generation.  Eugene, Keith, et.al. have outlined the
> problem and offered possible solutions.  Having tasks right at the ragged
> edge of the envelope gives us something at which to aim.  In this case the
> stakes could not be higher.  Transhumanists and extropians are examples of
> humans who can *almost* catch, people who believe that the object is
> catchable, people who are taking a flying leap at that frisbee.
>
> spike
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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