Celebrate Vi day.
March 14, 2015 6:53 AM Subscribe
But, I need an excuse to eat pie.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:08 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:08 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
You can try to bring science and reason into this all you want. Meanwhile I'll be over here watching this on repeat all day.
posted by phunniemee at 7:11 AM on March 14, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 7:11 AM on March 14, 2015 [3 favorites]
Over thinking a plate of pie.
posted by octothorpe at 7:18 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by octothorpe at 7:18 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
But's not even Pi day: it's 14-03-2015, or 2015-03-14, not this inane 3/14/15.
posted by MartinWisse at 7:21 AM on March 14, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by MartinWisse at 7:21 AM on March 14, 2015 [6 favorites]
Choose Tau!
posted by crush-onastick at 7:24 AM on March 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by crush-onastick at 7:24 AM on March 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
Oh, please let's call it Pi Day - I'm in a cranky mood and it's rainy and so I was going to stay in all day and bake anyway, and I'd love to have an excuse to make that sound way less pathetic.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:26 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:26 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm still waiting for her rant against Emacs.
posted by Gordion Knott at 7:35 AM on March 14, 2015 [30 favorites]
posted by Gordion Knott at 7:35 AM on March 14, 2015 [30 favorites]
Any date format is arbitrary, the number of months in a year are arbitrary, the starting year is arbitrary, base 10 is arbitrary and Tau vs. Pi is arbitrary but I don't care when it's a fun little celebration of a mathematical constant and an excuse to eat baked goods.
posted by octothorpe at 7:37 AM on March 14, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 7:37 AM on March 14, 2015 [6 favorites]
I don't see what the problem is. Can't you non-Americans celebrate Pi day on April 31st?
posted by miguelcervantes at 7:39 AM on March 14, 2015 [11 favorites]
posted by miguelcervantes at 7:39 AM on March 14, 2015 [11 favorites]
(╯°□°）╯︵∐
posted by bigendian at 7:39 AM on March 14, 2015 [21 favorites]
posted by bigendian at 7:39 AM on March 14, 2015 [21 favorites]
God forbid people want to celebrate a fundamentally important number (even if it's half the fundamentally important number you want everyone to celebrate) on an arbitrary day, Vi.
The point of pi day is not the day, it's the fact that hey, math is pretty cool, everyone, remember math? Let's celebrate math! Let's celebrate circles! Repetition! Let's celebrate the fundamental weirdness of irrational numbers, and their weird string of infinite decimals! Let's use the fact that people are talking about pi not to harp on how arbitrary our calendar and clock is, and talk about how weird pi is as a thing, in any language! In her rant, she skipped over all of the interesting teachable moments in favor of just sounding like something that she is trying to get away from: a pedant. Math for everyone! Whether today, tomorrow, or even November 10th. Or 9th.
posted by RubixsQube at 7:40 AM on March 14, 2015 [5 favorites]
The point of pi day is not the day, it's the fact that hey, math is pretty cool, everyone, remember math? Let's celebrate math! Let's celebrate circles! Repetition! Let's celebrate the fundamental weirdness of irrational numbers, and their weird string of infinite decimals! Let's use the fact that people are talking about pi not to harp on how arbitrary our calendar and clock is, and talk about how weird pi is as a thing, in any language! In her rant, she skipped over all of the interesting teachable moments in favor of just sounding like something that she is trying to get away from: a pedant. Math for everyone! Whether today, tomorrow, or even November 10th. Or 9th.
posted by RubixsQube at 7:40 AM on March 14, 2015 [5 favorites]
Regardless, I shall be counting the seconds until 3/14/15 9:26:54.
posted by darksasami at 7:47 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by darksasami at 7:47 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Keep the pie in π-day!
posted by Poldo at 7:48 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Poldo at 7:48 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
This is fun. It's meant to be fun. If you're taking it as being serious and humorless, the point is whooshing over your head.
(Vi's complete pi and anti-pi playlist, which also includes a Pi Day Anthem she collaborated on this year.)
posted by Shmuel510 at 7:49 AM on March 14, 2015
(Vi's complete pi and anti-pi playlist, which also includes a Pi Day Anthem she collaborated on this year.)
posted by Shmuel510 at 7:49 AM on March 14, 2015
But, I need an excuse to eat pie.
Luckily, January 23rd is National Pie Day!
posted by Itaxpica at 7:49 AM on March 14, 2015
Luckily, January 23rd is National Pie Day!
posted by Itaxpica at 7:49 AM on March 14, 2015
She makes some good points about celebrating PI day every 6 months.
posted by oceanjesse at 8:08 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by oceanjesse at 8:08 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm in a cranky mood and it's rainy and so I was going to stay in all day and bake anyway, and I'd love to have an excuse to make that sound way less pathetic.
STAYING IN A BAKING ALL DAY IS TOTALLY NOT PATHETIC!!!
(But if you insist that it is, you can come be pathetic at my house anytime you want. I'll be pathetic with you. We'll be the pathetic pie twins!)
posted by hippybear at 8:12 AM on March 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
STAYING IN A BAKING ALL DAY IS TOTALLY NOT PATHETIC!!!
(But if you insist that it is, you can come be pathetic at my house anytime you want. I'll be pathetic with you. We'll be the pathetic pie twins!)
posted by hippybear at 8:12 AM on March 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
Everyone would surely be happy if we renamed Friday as Piday, right? Nobody worships Frigg anymore, after all.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:16 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:16 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
> Any date format is arbitrary, the number of months in a year are arbitrary, the starting year is arbitrary, base 10 is arbitrary and Tau vs. Pi is arbitrary
So that means tomorrow will be Pi Day?
posted by ardgedee at 8:21 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
So that means tomorrow will be Pi Day?
posted by ardgedee at 8:21 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
At the least, it was a nice reason for the Stone Brewery to have a 3-14-15 "Best By" IPA. With a pi on the bottle no less. And a nice IPA it was too.
posted by Death and Gravity at 8:29 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Death and Gravity at 8:29 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Any date format is arbitrary, the number of months in a year are arbitrary, the starting year is arbitrary, base 10 is arbitrary and Tau vs. Pi is arbitrary
So I dunno, we've managed to agree globally on the number of months in a year, the starting year (at least for civil calendars), we use base 10 not just for dates but for all numbers, nobody cares about tau since it's just some guy on the internet, and almost everyone puts the date components in order (either biggest first or smallest first), but of course someone had to mess things up...
So that means tomorrow will be Pi Day?
Every day is Pi day. It's a constant, after all.
posted by effbot at 8:34 AM on March 14, 2015 [4 favorites]
So I dunno, we've managed to agree globally on the number of months in a year, the starting year (at least for civil calendars), we use base 10 not just for dates but for all numbers, nobody cares about tau since it's just some guy on the internet, and almost everyone puts the date components in order (either biggest first or smallest first), but of course someone had to mess things up...
So that means tomorrow will be Pi Day?
Every day is Pi day. It's a constant, after all.
posted by effbot at 8:34 AM on March 14, 2015 [4 favorites]
March 14, 2015 9:53
Should have posted 27 minutes sooner.
posted by radwolf76 at 8:34 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Should have posted 27 minutes sooner.
posted by radwolf76 at 8:34 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
It is said, natura non facit saltus, but my study of terminology says that terminology does make jumps, coinciding a bit with revolutions in thought. The Einstein notation for linear algebra is a great example, as is the sectionalization of the different notations for differentiation, Newton's and Leibniz's and then the vector calculus notation and Euler and Lagrange's notation coming about around the time of the formalization of the real analysis, I think
It's a symbolic system, so it tends to grow in spikes which are self-similar. A guy wrote a paper about poking at and simulating all the known properties, which should also apply to social networks interestingly enough
posted by curuinor at 8:50 AM on March 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's a symbolic system, so it tends to grow in spikes which are self-similar. A guy wrote a paper about poking at and simulating all the known properties, which should also apply to social networks interestingly enough
posted by curuinor at 8:50 AM on March 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
Classic Vi, and appropriate for the eternal present that is TAU DAY: A number that's cooler than pi, more mysterious than the golden ratio, weirder than e or i...
posted by Zerowensboring at 9:13 AM on March 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Zerowensboring at 9:13 AM on March 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm a math teacher. Yesterday we celebrated Pi Day (Observed), seeing as no one was going to be in school on Saturday. My calculus class started by eating slices of homemade apple, strawberry, and lemon pie, and happened to end by solving the following problem:
The area bounded by the y-axis, the curve y=x^2, and the line y=4 is revolved around the y-axis to form a solid in the shape of a kettledrum. What is the volume of the solid?
I swear I did not choose this problem for its answer.
posted by aws17576 at 9:13 AM on March 14, 2015 [3 favorites]
The area bounded by the y-axis, the curve y=x^2, and the line y=4 is revolved around the y-axis to form a solid in the shape of a kettledrum. What is the volume of the solid?
I swear I did not choose this problem for its answer.
posted by aws17576 at 9:13 AM on March 14, 2015 [3 favorites]
But if you round it up, it'll really be the best pi day in 2016.
posted by tel3path at 9:13 AM on March 14, 2015
posted by tel3path at 9:13 AM on March 14, 2015
But, I need an excuse to eat pie.
The excuse for eating pie is the existence of pie.
the pathetic pie twins
brb new username
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:29 AM on March 14, 2015
The excuse for eating pie is the existence of pie.
the pathetic pie twins
brb new username
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:29 AM on March 14, 2015
A number that's cooler than pi, more mysterious than the golden ratio, weirder than e or i...That's a dirty trick, Zerowensboring...or should I call you ONEwensboring?
posted by GrumpyDan at 9:32 AM on March 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
If this is really a day devoted to celebrating math, then it's exactly a suspicion of arbitrary choices that should play a central role.
posted by busted_crayons at 9:35 AM on March 14, 2015
posted by busted_crayons at 9:35 AM on March 14, 2015
I was sure when you said "suspicion of arbitrary choices" that the link would be to something like this.
posted by Death and Gravity at 9:42 AM on March 14, 2015
posted by Death and Gravity at 9:42 AM on March 14, 2015
or maybe it's just a day that happens to line up numerically in some systems with a fundamental constant of the universe and that's kinda funny and there's a homonym in English for that constant so that's funny too and let's stop pieplating
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:43 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:43 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Don't worry, the rest of us will celebrate on April 31st.
posted by effbot at 9:44 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by effbot at 9:44 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
I was sure when you said "suspicion of arbitrary choices" that the link would be to something like this.
No, the A of C is just fine. Without it, there'd be all manner of brown-polyester-suited unscrupuloids wandering your neighbourhood selling defective horrors like vector spaces without bases.
Math: where you want every vector space to have a basis, but it's kind of gauche to actually choose a specific one if you can avoid it.
posted by busted_crayons at 9:52 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
No, the A of C is just fine. Without it, there'd be all manner of brown-polyester-suited unscrupuloids wandering your neighbourhood selling defective horrors like vector spaces without bases.
Math: where you want every vector space to have a basis, but it's kind of gauche to actually choose a specific one if you can avoid it.
posted by busted_crayons at 9:52 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
brown-polyester-suited unscrupuloids
brb another new sockpuppet
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:58 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
brb another new sockpuppet
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:58 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
I don't see what the problem is. Can't you non-Americans celebrate Pi day on April 31st?
Don't worry, the rest of us will celebrate on April 31st.
I like your justification for us to have more pie on May 1st (also known as January 120th)! I'm in!
posted by otherchaz at 10:27 AM on March 14, 2015
Don't worry, the rest of us will celebrate on April 31st.
I like your justification for us to have more pie on May 1st (also known as January 120th)! I'm in!
posted by otherchaz at 10:27 AM on March 14, 2015
But if you round it up, it'll really be the best pi day in 2016.
In the last sentence of the video, she notes that 3/14/16 is Engineer's Pi Day.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:47 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
In the last sentence of the video, she notes that 3/14/16 is Engineer's Pi Day.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:47 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
My alma mater does pi day up pretty well. If you celebrate pi day in March, pi approximation day (22/7-->july 22; tau day would also apply) and the 314th day of the year in November, you get some semblance of pi day once every term--maximizing your opportunities to eat pie. Which is really the point, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise.
Because I work with a bunch of nerds we usually observe pi day at work by bringing in a bunch of pies to eat, but because it was on a Saturday this year I just baked a sour cream cherry tart and had a friend over and we drank tea and ate pie and it was good.
posted by quaking fajita at 2:52 PM on March 14, 2015
Because I work with a bunch of nerds we usually observe pi day at work by bringing in a bunch of pies to eat, but because it was on a Saturday this year I just baked a sour cream cherry tart and had a friend over and we drank tea and ate pie and it was good.
posted by quaking fajita at 2:52 PM on March 14, 2015
I generally get a kick out of Vi Hart's schtick, but not so much the 'math curmudgeon' stuff. too clever by half, meh.
posted by OHenryPacey at 3:33 PM on March 14, 2015
posted by OHenryPacey at 3:33 PM on March 14, 2015
too clever by half, meh.
Yes.
Her argument, although arbitrary in itself, was well constructed right up to the end, where she failed badly:
Really, the only fundamentally, mathematically, universally non-arbitrary choice, when it comes to picking a day out of the year, is today, right now. Today is the only day fundamentally different from all the rest.
There is a universally accepted, non-arbitrary point in the Earth's orbit that is designated as 0 radians, and another at Pi radians: The Equinoxes.
posted by charlie don't surf at 4:26 PM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yes.
Her argument, although arbitrary in itself, was well constructed right up to the end, where she failed badly:
Really, the only fundamentally, mathematically, universally non-arbitrary choice, when it comes to picking a day out of the year, is today, right now. Today is the only day fundamentally different from all the rest.
There is a universally accepted, non-arbitrary point in the Earth's orbit that is designated as 0 radians, and another at Pi radians: The Equinoxes.
posted by charlie don't surf at 4:26 PM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Her argument, although arbitrary in itself, was well constructed right up to the end, where she failed badly
That's not the point where she failed badly, it's the point where she intentionally took the whole thing over the top, making it awesome. (Seriously, if that part—"proving" that every day is Tau Day, and Pi Day is always six months away—doesn't make it clear that the entire argument is meant to be gloriously absurd, rather than sincere curmudgeonliness, I don't know what would do it.)
(As for the equinoxes, yeah, Vi tweeted a link to this video by someone else, which makes that argument.)
posted by Shmuel510 at 5:45 PM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
That's not the point where she failed badly, it's the point where she intentionally took the whole thing over the top, making it awesome. (Seriously, if that part—"proving" that every day is Tau Day, and Pi Day is always six months away—doesn't make it clear that the entire argument is meant to be gloriously absurd, rather than sincere curmudgeonliness, I don't know what would do it.)
(As for the equinoxes, yeah, Vi tweeted a link to this video by someone else, which makes that argument.)
posted by Shmuel510 at 5:45 PM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
(Seriously, if that part—"proving" that every day is Tau Day, and Pi Day is always six months away—doesn't make it clear that the entire argument is meant to be gloriously absurd, rather than sincere curmudgeonliness, I don't know what would do it.)
I might buy that, if I hadn't seen the link to last year's Pi rant. She makes several subtle errors that seem sincerely curmudgeonly.
(As for the equinoxes, yeah, Vi tweeted a link to this video yt by someone else, which makes that argument.)
I like that better, but it still has fundamental errors.
posted by charlie don't surf at 6:46 PM on March 14, 2015
I might buy that, if I hadn't seen the link to last year's Pi rant. She makes several subtle errors that seem sincerely curmudgeonly.
(As for the equinoxes, yeah, Vi tweeted a link to this video yt by someone else, which makes that argument.)
I like that better, but it still has fundamental errors.
posted by charlie don't surf at 6:46 PM on March 14, 2015
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