24 Responses to “New Math”

1. 1 1 Cjohn
   July 2, 2012 at 2:51 am

   Hey, just like the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs.

   Of course, I’m assuming you meant “mine,” not ‘mind’ – otherwise, if one assumes the mind is infinite, then I suppose they would indeed intersect (in the limit at infinity).

2. 2 2 Bennett Haselton
   July 2, 2012 at 3:03 am

   Sounds like the author is a bit clueless with geometric metaphors, but with luck she’ll turn that situation around 360 degrees.

3. 3 3 nobody.really
   July 2, 2012 at 3:19 am

   Parallel lines meet at infinity.
   All roads meet at Rome.
   Crab meat at $30/lb.

4. 4 4 Andy
   July 2, 2012 at 5:22 am

   Maybe they ran the same investigation? Then they would intersect at every point, no?

5. 5 5 Steve Landsburg
   July 2, 2012 at 8:38 am

   Cjohn: Typo corrected.

6. 6 6 Jonathan Kariv
   July 2, 2012 at 8:50 am

   great circles on a sphere????

7. 7 7 Scott H.
   July 2, 2012 at 9:20 am

   Logical Fallacy:
   Fallacy of Ambiguity:
   Equivocation: the same term is used with two different meanings.

   From dictionary.com…

   par·al·lel
      [par-uh-lel, -luhl] Show IPA adjective, noun, verb, par·al·leled, par·al·lel·ing or ( especially British ) par·al·lelled, par·al·lel·ling.
   adjective

   1. extending in the same direction, equidistant at all points, and never converging or diverging: parallel rows of trees.

   2. having the same direction, course, nature, or tendency; corresponding; similar; analogous: Canada and the U.S. have many parallel economic interests.

   Next!

8. 8 8 Brandon Berg
   July 2, 2012 at 9:37 am

   I thought it would be clever to suggest that she was just being hyperbolic.

   Turns out hyperbolic geometry doesn’t work quite the way I thought, though.

9. 9 9 Ken B
   July 2, 2012 at 9:41 am

   She has a parabolic style. I prefer Chandler; he’s elliptical.

10. 10 10 dave
    July 2, 2012 at 10:20 am

    i didnt make it past g is for gumshoe.
    on a math note, what if the lines are identical? arent they also parallel?

11. 11 11 Ken B
    July 2, 2012 at 10:25 am

    “i didnt make it past g is for gumshoe.”

    The only one I ever tried was B is For Boring

12. 12 12 ThomasBayes
    July 2, 2012 at 10:28 am

    I bet that both investigations were broadly focussed too.

13. 13 13 Ken B
    July 2, 2012 at 10:45 am

    I thought A is for Asymptote would never end.

14. 14 14 Harold
    July 2, 2012 at 10:57 am

    The police Dept exists in non-Euclidean space.

15. 15 15 Jens Fiederer
    July 2, 2012 at 11:21 am

    Investigations rarely run in straight lines.

    Amusing, though.

16. 16 16 KS
    July 2, 2012 at 11:26 am

    I know parallel lines can intersect once (on the surface of a sphere). There’s that parallel postulate again.

    But is there a surface where parallel lines can intersect multiple times?

17. 17 17 jimbino
    July 2, 2012 at 12:23 pm

    Parallel lines on a donut can intersect an infinite number of times.

18. 18 18 KS
    July 2, 2012 at 1:03 pm

    Hmm, do you have a picture? I’m having a hard time visualizing that

19. 19 19 Bill Drissel
    July 2, 2012 at 1:25 pm

    The linguistic problem is called “metaphor overload.”

    Besides, “locally parallel” curves can intersect when prolonged beyond the “locality.” Think of meridians of longitude on a sphere … they’re locally parallel near the equator.

    Bill Drissel
    Grand Prairie, TX

20. 20 20 EricK
    July 2, 2012 at 1:48 pm

    “Parallel lines on a donut can intersect an infinite number of times.”

    That’s hard to swallow – it will take me a while to digest it.

21. 21 21 Tristan
    July 2, 2012 at 9:38 pm

    I don’t see why this line is objectionable…isn’t the only thing that’s impossible is for two parallel lines to cross at a single point?

22. 22 22 dave
    July 3, 2012 at 4:33 am

    donuts at a police department? this investigation has come full circle.

23. 23 23 Anthony Mills
    July 3, 2012 at 5:34 pm

    interesecting => intersecting

    :)

24. 24 24 Paul T
    July 20, 2012 at 10:00 pm

    SL: “… that paralleled mine, the two interesecting at more
    than one point.”

    From a recent newpaper column recipe, SF Chronicle,
    for cucumber salad: “Cut the whole cucumber in half
    crosswise, so that you have three equal pieces.”

    well, as any 6th grader can tell you, fractions are heck –