My friend showed this to me a few days ago...
-1 = -1
-1/1 = 1/-1
sqrt(-1/1) = sqrt(1/-1)
sqrt(-1)/sqrt(1) = sqrt(1)/sqrt(-1)
sqrt(-1)*sqrt(-1) = sqrt(1)*sqrt(1)
-1 = 1
In case you are wondering, there is in fact an error in the proof. The operation done between the third and fourth lines is not possible.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Martyrs: Food for Thought
I find religions to be interesting social institutions. I was raised Christian but see nothing wrong with questioning one's beliefs and searching for the truth with an open mind. I have a lot of respect for René Descartes and his method of attempting to prove philosophical truths by first removing all biased assumptions. Although ultimately I do accredit my belief in Jesus and the Bible to faith, I am interested in examining the evidence in order that it may not be a blind faith.
Just thought I'd share a little thought exercise here:
Several weeks ago I got to thinking about the Muslim extremists who have given their lives for their beliefs in the last few years. This strikes me as a great proof of faith, and begs the question "if they can believe in their religion so strongly that they are willing to give their lives for it, is that evidence for some truth behind it?" Of course many have given their lives for their beliefs. Jim Jones comes to mind as well as numerous reported Christians in states where Christianity is illegal and punishable by death. I think religious martyrs can be categorised into two main groups: those who have given their lives following a belief they were taught or raised with, and those who have given their lives following a religion which they had a role in the formation of. To make a legal metaphor, the first category parallels people with hearsay, and the second parallels people with primary evidence. Obviously the first category should be thrown out in this exercise because it is known that the human mind is manipulable to such an affect that some will give their lives for beliefs they have been taught. That leaves a category of religious martyrs such as Jim Jones, Marshall Applewhite, and Jesus: people who gave their lives knowing at the times of their deaths (because they were initial propagators of the religions) whether their beliefs were true or false. In my opinion, the suicides of the single-person religious leaders such as Jim Jones and Marshall Applewhite are somewhat convincing, but the affect is lost when one realises the great possibility that, because they were singularly responsible for their groups' existences, they possibly gave their lives purely out of psychological illness and/or hope for fame. In the case of Jesus' martyrdom, he died before his twelve apostles, not with them. They had been in close contact with him and in my opinion, after his death, would have known whether his beliefs and teachings were true or not. Eleven of the twelve (as Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus) became the leaders of the Christian movement, and ultimately died as martyrs, in the name of Christianity. Did they give their lives out of a pursuit of fame, out of ironically mutual mental illness, out of being brainwashed by Jesus to the point that his death did not stop their faith, or were Jesus' teachings and their accounts of Jesus' life actually true?
Just thought I'd share a little thought exercise here:
Several weeks ago I got to thinking about the Muslim extremists who have given their lives for their beliefs in the last few years. This strikes me as a great proof of faith, and begs the question "if they can believe in their religion so strongly that they are willing to give their lives for it, is that evidence for some truth behind it?" Of course many have given their lives for their beliefs. Jim Jones comes to mind as well as numerous reported Christians in states where Christianity is illegal and punishable by death. I think religious martyrs can be categorised into two main groups: those who have given their lives following a belief they were taught or raised with, and those who have given their lives following a religion which they had a role in the formation of. To make a legal metaphor, the first category parallels people with hearsay, and the second parallels people with primary evidence. Obviously the first category should be thrown out in this exercise because it is known that the human mind is manipulable to such an affect that some will give their lives for beliefs they have been taught. That leaves a category of religious martyrs such as Jim Jones, Marshall Applewhite, and Jesus: people who gave their lives knowing at the times of their deaths (because they were initial propagators of the religions) whether their beliefs were true or false. In my opinion, the suicides of the single-person religious leaders such as Jim Jones and Marshall Applewhite are somewhat convincing, but the affect is lost when one realises the great possibility that, because they were singularly responsible for their groups' existences, they possibly gave their lives purely out of psychological illness and/or hope for fame. In the case of Jesus' martyrdom, he died before his twelve apostles, not with them. They had been in close contact with him and in my opinion, after his death, would have known whether his beliefs and teachings were true or not. Eleven of the twelve (as Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus) became the leaders of the Christian movement, and ultimately died as martyrs, in the name of Christianity. Did they give their lives out of a pursuit of fame, out of ironically mutual mental illness, out of being brainwashed by Jesus to the point that his death did not stop their faith, or were Jesus' teachings and their accounts of Jesus' life actually true?
My Cambridge Who's Who Story
I should preface this blog post with the disclaimer that it is a direct, legal exercise of my first amendment right to freedom of speech. I am authorised as a citizen of the United States of America to speak freely about my experience with the Cambridge Who's Who organisation and will not refrain from doing so here, despite legal actions the company has taken against individuals who have done the same, including one individual who has been sued by Cambridge Who's Who for US$7,000,000 after making a web page about the company. I am, however, watching my words as I write this so that I may not be guilty of defamation, or "the communication of a statement that makes a false claim, expressively stated or implied to be factual, that may harm the reputation of an individual, business, product, group, government or nation." Instead of making any conclusions about the company myself, I am simply stating the facts and sharing my story. I will let you, the reader draw your own conclusions. Furthermore, in case I have accidentally mis-stated a number or other detail, I will make no claims to the authenticity of this blog post.
As an engineering student aspiring to attend a graduate school and/or enter the workforce within the next 12-24 months I understand the importance of social networking, and as a former member of an accelerated high school academic programme I have heard the hype about Who's Who organisations. So when I received a message in the mail not long after the new year which stated that I may be eligible for admittance into 'Cambridge Who's Who among Executives, Professionals, and Entrepreneurs' and that there would be "no cost to be included in the Registry," I quickly returned my contact information.
A few days ago I received a phone call from a "withheld" number. The lady on the other end informed me that she would need to ask me a series of interview questions to determine whether or not I would be eligible for acceptance into the registry. After the interview, without consulting a committee or reviewing the interview with anyone else, she told me that I had been accepted into the Who's Who database. She then went on to state the fees for membership (US$700 for lifetime membership, US$200 for 2-year membership, US$100 for 1-year membership). I explained that I would need some time to make a decision about a financial commitment and she replied stating that in order to accept my invitation into the registry I would need to make the decision during that phone call. Because it had been several weeks between when I returned the message in the mail and when I received this phone call, and under pressure of the moment I failed to remember that the initial contact information form stated that there were no fees for enrollment, and agreed to pay the fee for one year of membership, which would also give me one year to decide whether or not I wanted to upgrade my membership for a longer period of time. At the end of the phone call she mentioned that there were 250,000 members in the registry.
That night I visited Wikipedia to find that there had been no article written for Cambridge Who's Who. After Googling Cambridge Who's Who I found many blogs suggesting that the organisation is a scam. When I remembered that enrollment into the database was supposed to be free, I first notified my bank and then began calling Cambridge Who's Who to request a refund. After several phone calls and conversations with different employees I was able to speak with the man who handles cancellation requests. He told me that he had discussed the issue with the lady who initially entered me into the registry and they had come to the agreement that because I was a college student and probably did not have the financial stability to seriously commit to the programme, he would be able to offer me lifetime membership (which I had originally been told was a US$700-value and which he stated was a US$2000-value) for the US$100 that I had already paid. I told him that I greatly appreciated the offer but wished to cancel my membership nonetheless. After several more phone calls and conversations with many different employees I was able to get an e-mail stating that my membership would be canceled and my payment fully refunded. That weekend I received the reimbursement to my bank account.
As an engineering student aspiring to attend a graduate school and/or enter the workforce within the next 12-24 months I understand the importance of social networking, and as a former member of an accelerated high school academic programme I have heard the hype about Who's Who organisations. So when I received a message in the mail not long after the new year which stated that I may be eligible for admittance into 'Cambridge Who's Who among Executives, Professionals, and Entrepreneurs' and that there would be "no cost to be included in the Registry," I quickly returned my contact information.
A few days ago I received a phone call from a "withheld" number. The lady on the other end informed me that she would need to ask me a series of interview questions to determine whether or not I would be eligible for acceptance into the registry. After the interview, without consulting a committee or reviewing the interview with anyone else, she told me that I had been accepted into the Who's Who database. She then went on to state the fees for membership (US$700 for lifetime membership, US$200 for 2-year membership, US$100 for 1-year membership). I explained that I would need some time to make a decision about a financial commitment and she replied stating that in order to accept my invitation into the registry I would need to make the decision during that phone call. Because it had been several weeks between when I returned the message in the mail and when I received this phone call, and under pressure of the moment I failed to remember that the initial contact information form stated that there were no fees for enrollment, and agreed to pay the fee for one year of membership, which would also give me one year to decide whether or not I wanted to upgrade my membership for a longer period of time. At the end of the phone call she mentioned that there were 250,000 members in the registry.
That night I visited Wikipedia to find that there had been no article written for Cambridge Who's Who. After Googling Cambridge Who's Who I found many blogs suggesting that the organisation is a scam. When I remembered that enrollment into the database was supposed to be free, I first notified my bank and then began calling Cambridge Who's Who to request a refund. After several phone calls and conversations with different employees I was able to speak with the man who handles cancellation requests. He told me that he had discussed the issue with the lady who initially entered me into the registry and they had come to the agreement that because I was a college student and probably did not have the financial stability to seriously commit to the programme, he would be able to offer me lifetime membership (which I had originally been told was a US$700-value and which he stated was a US$2000-value) for the US$100 that I had already paid. I told him that I greatly appreciated the offer but wished to cancel my membership nonetheless. After several more phone calls and conversations with many different employees I was able to get an e-mail stating that my membership would be canceled and my payment fully refunded. That weekend I received the reimbursement to my bank account.
new blog
I am hereby replacing my old blog with this new one. I hope to keep this one up-to-date a little better.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
