Dumb (Jokes) Thread - Page 114

masser · 2022-10-16, 18:52

I listened to a Grateful Dead show for three hours last night ... great song!

Reed_Young · 2022-12-18, 19:49

Have you ever noticed, how the standard textual definition of a prime integer, taken literally, also includes all the perfect squares as well as perfect cubes and whatever hyper-geometric terms would be used as analogy for the higher powers of each given prime number which has no divisors but 1 and arbitrarily many multiples of a single, other prime number? (for example 4, 8, 9, 16, 25, 27, 32, 49, etc.)

I know, I learned in elementary school that the perfect squares 4, 9, 16, 25, 49, etc. aren't really primes and we were taught that in such a way that 8, 16, 27, 32, 81, 125, etc. were so obviously not prime that nobody even asked. But as soon as this little irony occurred to me today, I searched the Internet to be sure I was remembering the "usual" definition right and sure enough, the definition that I see on the first few results is not quite the actual operational definition. The full definition in actual use but rarely if ever printed is, a number is prime if and only if it is divisible only by one and (only once) by itself. The bit in parentheses is usually omitted and if we take what is usually printed at face value, then 4, 8, 9, 16, 25, 27, 32, etc. are all prime!

If this omission has negatively impacted anybody's mathematics education they haven't told me about it, and I don't suppose that's likely, as anybody who doesn't still recall that from their early math education is probably not a mathematician as an adult. I just find it interesting that people who talk about and work with prime numbers professionally take such a functionally relevant part of the definition for granted, and that it doesn't seem to cause even a hiccup.

Batalov · 2022-12-18, 20:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reed_Young

Have you ever noticed, how the standard textual definition of a prime integer, taken literally, <<268 more words>>, and that it doesn't seem to cause even a hiccup.

We cannot be picky in this thread, but a joke is usually short and preferably has a punchline.

VBCurtis · 2022-12-19, 05:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reed_Young

The full definition in actual use but rarely if ever printed is, a number is prime if and only if it is divisible only by one and (only once) by itself. The bit in parentheses is usually omitted and if we take what is usually printed at face value, then 4, 8, 9, 16, 25, 27, 32, etc. are all prime!

It didn't occur to you that 4 is divisible by 2?

chalsall · 2022-12-19, 05:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by VBCurtis

It didn't occur to you that 4 is divisible by 2?

Now... That's funny...

S485122 · 2022-12-19, 11:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by VBCurtis

It didn't occur to you that 4 is divisible by 2?

This kind of thing could happen when one gets so seduced by an idea, that one forgets the obvious : "a number is prime if and only if it is divisible only by one and by itself", the itselfpart has gone wrong in the presented reasoning.

But might it be that that was the intended joke ? The choice of thread should be a clue ;-)

Reed_Young · 2022-12-20, 05:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by S485122

This kind of thing could happen when one gets so seduced by an idea, that one forgets the obvious : "a number is prime if and only if it is divisible only by one and by itself", the itselfpart has gone wrong in the presented reasoning.

Yes, that's it exactly. I thought I had noticed something funny, not something mathematically relevant, and I rushed off to tell the joke without checking the math. Should have left the "have you ever noticed" schtick to Jerry Seinfeld.

MattcAnderson · 2022-12-29, 07:16

Did you see the new Star Wars movie?
Darth Vader gets married. … To Ella

She becomes EllaVador
She lifts him up.

sdbardwick · 2022-12-30, 02:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattcAnderson

Did you see the new Star Wars movie?
Darth Vader gets married. … To Ella

She becomes EllaVador
She lifts him up.

And she is formidable in her own right, as she can take him down just as quickly.

masser · 2023-01-17, 15:47

What do you call a person without a body or a nose?

Nobody knows.

ZFR · 2023-01-17, 23:16

Why won't Dijkstra create a sequel for Pokemon GO?

Because GO 2 considered harmful.

2022-12-18, 19:49	#1245
Reed_Young "Reed Young" Sep 2009 Oregon 1F₁₆ Posts	Given the standard definition of a prime... Have you ever noticed, how the standard textual definition of a prime integer, taken literally, also includes all the perfect squares as well as perfect cubes and whatever hyper-geometric terms would be used as analogy for the higher powers of each given prime number which has no divisors but 1 and arbitrarily many multiples of a single, other prime number? (for example 4, 8, 9, 16, 25, 27, 32, 49, etc.) I know, I learned in elementary school that the perfect squares 4, 9, 16, 25, 49, etc. aren't really primes and we were taught that in such a way that 8, 16, 27, 32, 81, 125, etc. were so obviously not prime that nobody even asked. But as soon as this little irony occurred to me today, I searched the Internet to be sure I was remembering the "usual" definition right and sure enough, the definition that I see on the first few results is not quite the actual operational definition. The full definition in actual use but rarely if ever printed is, a number is prime if and only if it is divisible only by one and (only once) by itself. The bit in parentheses is usually omitted and if we take what is usually printed at face value, then 4, 8, 9, 16, 25, 27, 32, etc. are all prime! If this omission has negatively impacted anybody's mathematics education they haven't told me about it, and I don't suppose that's likely, as anybody who doesn't still recall that from their early math education is probably not a mathematician as an adult. I just find it interesting that people who talk about and work with prime numbers professionally take such a functionally relevant part of the definition for granted, and that it doesn't seem to cause even a hiccup.

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2022-10-16, 18:52	#1244
masser Jul 2003 Behind BB 2⁴×3×41 Posts	I listened to a Grateful Dead show for three hours last night ... great song!

2022-12-29, 07:16	#1251
MattcAnderson "Matthew Anderson" Dec 2010 Oregon, USA 2³·149 Posts	Did you see the new Star Wars movie? Darth Vader gets married. … To Ella She becomes EllaVador She lifts him up.

2023-01-17, 15:47	#1253
masser Jul 2003 Behind BB 3660₈ Posts	What do you call a person without a body or a nose? Nobody knows.

2023-01-17, 23:16	#1254
ZFR Feb 2008 Meath, Ireland 185₁₀ Posts	Why won't Dijkstra create a sequel for Pokemon GO? Because GO 2 considered harmful.