Numb3rs

Does anyone watch Numb3rs? I really enjoy it, and yes, I am so cool that I watch it on Friday nights when it originally airs. I think my favorite part of the show, aside from guest appearances from Bill Nye the Science Guy, is the fact that the mathematicians and scientists in the show are mentally stable! They are slightly nerdy and a little socially awkward, but definitely not crazy. As we have seen in class, this is a rarity, and it’s a nice change to see relatively normal mathematicians in pop culture. The characters also solve crimes and do neat experiments which add to their “cool” factor. Not all of the math done on the show is entirely accurate, but I appreciate the effort and am willing to overlook the flaws. I hope everyone has a great summer, and maybe you will watch Numb3rs because it’s awesome!

Happily Ever After? Part II

The ending of Pi shows Max ridding his mind of the evils of mathematics with a drill to his temple. Although this can't be taken literally, it makes me wonder if he was truly happy after everything was said and done. His whole life, or the span of time we could witness in the film, revolved around mathematics. Could someone really be at ease if they lose the one thing they're truly passionate about?

One part of the ending that we didn't talk about in class that I feel is relevant is the scene where the bratty little neighbor asks Max to solve some equations and he fails to come up with answers. Did Max not know the solutions or did he just choose not to answer?

Overall, I believe that Max is still a deeply troubled person. The erratic behavior that he displays could easily be triggered by other events, possibly those that contain the intricate patterns that math contains. I'm still rather confused as to what scenes in the film actually occurred and what were nothing more than dreams. For instance, the battle between money and religion could be interpreted as literal, or as simply a nightmare or inner conflict. However, the appeal of this movie, to me, is that it is up for so many different interpretations.

What is your interpretation?

Crazy Interpretations

My apologies guys, I have a little catching up to do...

Our discussion in class got me thinking about what defines people as crazy. We mentioned something about how it depends on whether one can convince other people of what we believe. This isn't surprising really since crazy is clearly a subjective term that basically means that someone is interpreting some bit of information differently than we are. In this way it often can mean simply a view different from the majority. As I mentioned before, our brains are good at picking out patterns but the way they are ultimately interpreted can be influenced by a lot of things. If an experience is something broad that most people encounter, there's generally an already agreed upon interpretation that will influence the way it gets labeled by a person experiencing it for the first time. If a person is very reclusive though, like many of these mathematician characters, they might miss out on being influenced by the usual majority interpretation of things and instead come up with something "crazy". Of course the majority interpretations are usually based on a lot more experience than one person can have and are therefore probably more "correct" in the end.