Author: admin
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So Which Outcome Is More Likely? A or B? Or Both?
Here’s a fun teaser for you. Consider the following scenarios: So can you tell me which outcome is more likely? Or are they of equal odds? Once again, this is a good moment to pause the article and give the problem a go yourself. When you’re ready, keep reading for the solution. And if you…
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An American President’s Proof of The Pythagorean Theorem
US President: James A Garfield As the 20th President of the United States in 1881, James Garfield came up with an elegant proof of the Pythagorean Theorem in 1876 while being a Congressman. His proof of this well-known theorem was later published in the New England Journal of Education Without further ado, let’s dive in! a²…
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How Would YOU Find The Total Shaded Area?
This is another geometry puzzle by Catriona Agg on X. Both the regular hexagons have area 6. What’s the total shaded area? Once again, this is a good moment to pause the article and give the problem a go yourself. When you’re ready, keep reading for the solution. And if you come up with your…
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What Is The Area Of The Square?
The circle has a radius 1. The diagonal of the square extends to be a tangent of the circle. The circle touches the black lines at three points as shown. Find the area of the square. Once again, this is a good moment to pause the article and give the problem a go yourself. When…
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A Critique of The Dark Night of Mathematics by Kirwin Hampshire
The following is a Substack essay on the existential implications of AI for mathematics by Kirwin Hampshire. In this post I am going to offer my critique of the arguments presented. The Dark Night of Mathematics What are we really doing? I am going insane. During the last week or so LLMs have produced a…
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How Would You Tether Your Goat?
A goat is tethered to the edge of a circular paddock, with a lead adjusted so that the goat can eat just half of the field. So can you tell us how long the tether must be? Here’s a smoother paraphrased version that preserves the meaning while reading more naturally: At first glance, it seems…
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Life Is a Game of Musical Chairs
It’s an unfortunate reality of the human condition that there are more people vying an ever dwindling number of musical chairs. At this rate, I am getting absolutely sick of the generic and clichéd advice given to fellow humans who are just trying to survive. In my specific context, my feeds are bombarded with posts…
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Wilnecote, Middleton Lakes, Kingsbury & Echills Wood Railway
Life itself is the best game there is to play. You as a character get to explore the uncharted lands of the map. Yesterday, I took the train from Tile Hill all the way to Wilnecote, a town in the south-east of Tamworth. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Barry Leung |…
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The Public Goods Game – You Are Not So Smart
THE MISCONCEPTION: We could create a system with no regulations whereeveryone would contribute to the good of society, everyone would benefit, andeveryone would be happy. THE TRUTH: Without some form of regulation, slackers and cheaters willcrash economic systems because people don’t want to feel like suckers. Before you hear about the public goods game, you…