Nullity Debunked

[Sekky]

Any slashdot reader will undoubtedly have seen this article already, and also expressed their disgust towards it. Upon noticing the magnitude of comments, the BBC has decided to bring him in for an interview, of which I plan to be a part, but I'm asking for a little help.

I've began writing an article debunking this fallacy, and you can read what I have so far at http://www.stylebucket.co.uk/Nullity.pdf

I'm aiming to address as many issues as I can before Monday, in time for the interview on Tuesday where I hope to have the BBC use this is a direct reference to problem and inconsistency people have concerning the theory, so I'm asking for your assistance. You may write something, propose a query on which I'll attempt to expand or simply leave a quote expressing your distaste, of which I'm trying to include as many as possible in an appendix at the end. Diagrams pertaining to any form of calculus or analysis that contradicts this would also be welcomed, so long as I can implement them nicely. Try not to suggest things of which I'm already aware, and you can see the sections I haven't yet written but am in the process of, and should be finished by today, but feel free to expand on anything you read.

I thank in advance those who are willing to help in providing as much information as possible to debunk the theory, but of course, you're always entitled to agree with him. Just don't expect much respect from any thing other than grade school children.

There was a thread about this yesterday. I can't be bothered with it.

Good luck on your article though.

[TurtleJuice]

That's a pritty stupid idea , and you can't just make up a number

[Arby]

ask what happens when you divide by nullity =P

[HandsomeJake]

At 12/8/06 12:02 PM, PetCarrot wrote: That's a pritty stupid idea , and you can't just make up a number

dad, you're so sqaure! get hip, yo. you don't OWN numbers, man.

[Sekky]

Where is this other topic? I could do with some more quotes

[Arby]

At 12/8/06 02:30 PM, Sekky wrote: Where is this other topic? I could do with some more quotes

enjoy

[StarF68]

At 12/8/06 12:00 PM, Sekky wrote: http://www.stylebucket.co.uk/Nullity.pdf

I wish I could read this, but it wont load for me. Anyone else getting this problem?

[Sekky]

At 12/8/06 02:38 PM, StarF68 wrote: I wish I could read this, but it wont load for me. Anyone else getting this problem?

Really? it's just a pdf file. Try saving to disk

[StarF68]

At 12/8/06 02:41 PM, Sekky wrote:

At 12/8/06 02:38 PM, StarF68 wrote: I wish I could read this, but it wont load for me. Anyone else getting this problem?

Really? it's just a pdf file. Try saving to disk

I still can't get it to work, but if I do, I'll leave comments on it.

Until then, though, I guess I'll leave my own opinion on this.

Personally I think it's rather pointless. The article claims that not being able to divide by zero could cause major problems, even fatalities, but here's the thing: How often does this happen? Personally I have no idea, but my own guess would be that it happens extrmeley little, if at all.

But beyond that, how can you just create a new number which will solve one problem, without creating a set of it's own problems? For example, what happens when you try to divide by nullity?

And back to the whole computer thing, even if it does encounter an error, would it just shut down? If you programmed it to work with "nullity" (There's another problem, you'd have to upgrade existing technology to even recognize this new "number") then what does the computer do with it, just say "Oh, alright, moving on..." Why not just make it do that with the error?

It all seems rather pointless to me, and even absurd to make something up to answer a question.

[Elfer]

Nullity is a tool for computer science to keep a program from crashing in unexpected circumstances, not an attempt to revolutionize mathematics.

That's why nullity has such stupid properties (i.e. multiplying it by or adding it to any value results in nullity). It's not really important if it's the right answer, it's important if it works for the purpose it was designed for.