at least tangentially P-related: Class of all classes

[David Payne]

Jumping back to Fri, 9 May 2008 (05:02:44 -0400), Monte (monte.davis at verizon.net) explained:

> Naturally, over-generalizing like the rest of us, mathematicians had grown
> to think "continuous" and "differentiable" must go together when Weierstrass
> rubbed their noses in counterexamples: functions yielding graph lines that
> are *all* spikes, *all* cusps where the slope has no meaning. no matter how
> small the interval. And of course, once the bad juju of the "pathological"
> label wore off, people started finding such functions everywhere.

>From GR (677 ... 678):

     Well, it's a matter of continuity. Most people's lives have ups and downs that are relatively gradual, a sinuous curve with first derivatives at every point. They're the ones who never get struck by lightning. No real idea of cataclysm at all. But the ones who do get hit experience a singular point, a discontinuity in the curve of life—do you know what the time rate of change _is_ at a cusp? _Infinity_, that's what! A-and right across the point, it's _minus_ infinity! How's _that_ for sudden change, eh? Infinite miles per hour changing to the same speed _in reverse_, all in the gnat's-ass or red cunt hair of the [delta t] across the point. That's getting hit by lightning, folks. You're _way_ up there on the needle-peak of a mountain, and don't think there aren't lammergeiers cruising there in the lurid red altitudes around, waiting for a chance to snatch you off. Oh yes. They are piloted by bareback dwarves with little plastic masks around their eyes that happen to be shaped just like the infinity symbol: [8 sideways] …

     But does the Polish undertaker in the rowboat care about busting this code, about secret organizations or recognizable subcultures? No, he doesn't. The reason he is seeking these people out is that he thinks it will help him _in his job_. Can you dig _that_, gates? He wants to know how people behave before and after lightning bolts, so he'll know better how to handle bereaved families.


_________________________________________________________________
Stay in touch when you're away with Windows Live Messenger.
http://www.windowslive.com/messenger/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_messenger_052008