@[email protected] to Lemmy [email protected] • 2 months agoFront is back.lemmy.worldimagemessage-square30fedilinkarrow-up1797
arrow-up1797imageFront is back.lemmy.world@[email protected] to Lemmy [email protected] • 2 months agomessage-square30fedilink
minus-square@[email protected]linkfedilink16•2 months agoReminded me of this math joke: A physicist, engineer, and mathematician are asked by a local farmer to build the smallest fence they possibly can to hold in all of his sheep. The physicist builds a big fence and slowly reduces the size until he can’t reduce the fence any longer. The engineer measures each sheep, stacks them in a specific way, and then builds a fence around them. The mathematician builds a small fence around himself, then defines himself to be outside the fence.
minus-square@[email protected]linkfedilink1•2 months agoYes, whoosh and all, but Earth’s surface is homeomorphous to a sphere. What if I built a very non trivial fence in excess of 40000 km in length - would you laugh at me then for defining which side is supposed to be outside?
Reminded me of this math joke:
A physicist, engineer, and mathematician are asked by a local farmer to build the smallest fence they possibly can to hold in all of his sheep.
The physicist builds a big fence and slowly reduces the size until he can’t reduce the fence any longer.
The engineer measures each sheep, stacks them in a specific way, and then builds a fence around them.
The mathematician builds a small fence around himself, then defines himself to be outside the fence.
Yes, whoosh and all, but Earth’s surface is homeomorphous to a sphere.
What if I built a very non trivial fence in excess of 40000 km in length - would you laugh at me then for defining which side is supposed to be outside?