When someone boastfully claimed to have used the value of the decimal number π to at least a dozen digits in a computation to sound more accurate, when three or four digits would have sufficed.
Unless they are a rocket scientist or quantum physicist, laypersons who pridefully tell others that they had used buffalo pi in a practical math problem are simply blowing their own horn.
by Fasters January 02, 2022
A metaphorical way of saying to think creatively or divergently or laterally so that you might increase your chances of experiencing an aha!, just as the number π that beautifully or elegantly reveals itself in unexpected ways that its presence or occurrence often gives the reader a deep sense of mental satisfaction or excitement.
Besides showing thinking, window thinking, and sink thinking, where these activities often trigger an aha!, indulging in pi thinking ought to be encouraged as well.
by Fasters February 24, 2022
Short for “non-fungible token mania.” The urge or rage to own and invest in dear NFTs—and the desire by artists and creators to sell their digital assets at obscene or outrageous prices.
Is NFTmania the modern-day Tulipmania? A get-rich-quick blockchained scheme that would lead many to poverty or bankruptcy.
by Fasters November 14, 2022
When the three parts that make up the number π decide to perform a Michael Jackson’s moonwalk in front of a geeky audience.
With three permissible orientations of the legs (/, |, \), show that there are at most six possible movements of the pi dance.
by Fasters June 25, 2022
Out-of-print math titles whose covers, contents, or creators the present generation could still remember, because when they were students, teachers, or parents, these wallet-friendly, brain-unfriendly books had positively impacted their mathematical learning or teaching, which were unsurprisingly bestsellers of their day.
Singapore’s zombie math titles of yesteryear like Fabian Ng’s “Process Skills in Problem Solving,” Dr Y H Leong’s “Challenging Problems in Mathematics,” and K C Yan’s “Mathematical Quickies & Trickies” had not only differentiated themselves from the sea of canned drill-and-kill titles, but they have since become an integral part of the local math education culture.
by Fasters February 05, 2022
Doing math from a cat’s standpoint, or with the least effort. When a creative but lazy person is always on the lookout for a shortcut or hack to solve a math problem, so that they could have more time for leisure or rest.
Street-smart people tend to use Garfield math strategies to deal with their everyday quantitative challenges, compared to their exam-smart counterparts who prefer a more conventional or routine approach.
by Fasters February 06, 2022
Short for “Spy Pi.” The coded term for a math secret agent—who usually works as a journal or college textbook math editor, reviewer, or consultant—who would leak out information about submitted journal articles or contracted unedited manuscripts on the number π to some tenured faculty members (or to those seeking a permanent position in academia) in exchange for cash or favors.
Although the pool of 007 π operatives worldwide is unknown, however, their number is likely to be much higher than expected, as they’re sought after by faculty members who’d resort to unethical means and ways to secure tenure.
by Fasters November 24, 2022