There were two ants on my desk running around and playing and having fun. Gail said that she thinks the ants have come in because of the weather. Usually ants hanging around are an indication that wet weather is coming.
Tim and I had an interesting discussion about the saying “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” over email. I originally said that I didn’t agree with the saying, that it wasn’t really feasible and was just bad maths. After thinking about it a while, I came up with this:
I was thinking about that “greater than the sum of its parts” thing last night, and I have come to the conclusion that it does work in things where value is not entirely quantifiable. But then again, if you can’t find the value for something, how do you even know if the total is greater than the sum of the individual parts? A good example is voltron. The whole is definitely greater than the sum of the parts. But am I de-valuing the pilots and their goLions by saying that? The opinion of a group is worth more than an that of just one individual (or so history would prove), so that might be another example. Not that I actually believe that. I think that it’s more a case of that it’s difficult to get someone to listen to you unless you’ve got other people to back you up.
Tim responded with:
That’s an interesting take. I guess when I think of the saying ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ I would see it as relating to the parts relevant to that task rather than the overall value of the part. Physically you can’t get something from nothing but if something has a superfluous or redundant feature when in isolation but that feature can work when used together with other parts I think the saying can hold. Or I could just be full of it, take your pick!
I chose “full of it”, just because I was given the option. Actually just because I can be obnoxious sometimes.
When I searched wikipedia for any possible theories on it, I found the Bailey-Borwein-Plouffe formula, which made me amused by my own ignorance. There are so many things in the world that I have no idea exist. Look here:
The Bailey-Borwein-Plouffe formula (BBP formula) permits the computation of the nth binary digit of π. It is a π summation formula discovered in 1995 by Simon Plouffe. The formula is named after David H. Bailey, Peter Borwein, and Simon Plouffe.
The discovery of this formula came as a surprise. For centuries it had been assumed that there was no way to compute the nth digit of π without calculating all of the preceding n-1 digits.
Yes, I guess that I would be surprised too! You mean that nth DOES compute? I imagine a group of mathmagicians all crowded around a whiteboard with scribbled numbers and symbols on it, and suddenly they all go, “omg!” And it just blows their mind. Or they say, “gosh, what a surprise!” haha. I don’t know why I find that amusing.
I did find an actual reference to the saying, but it was only in ecological anthropology, whereas I was looking for a more blanket explanation/definition. Or just a blanket. One with hot air balloons on it (for Chris: Ballooens).