Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for February 26, 2009

They’re going to have some really, really interesting kids someday.

Danae’s “magic math” is akin basically to Calvin’s “time-travel math” (which Calvin can’t explain when Hobbes asks him).

Didn’t NASA do this with one of the Mars probes a few years back?

It did turn out so well as I recall.

Another analogue of Danae’s “magic math” was an old Daffy Duck cartoon where Daffy installs pushbuttons in Elmer Fudd’s home (after force-boarding Elmer on a nonstop bus to Duluth). Specifically, the “Elevator Area” scene where Daffy says “we’ll bring the upstairs downstairs” and then pushes the button; the aftermath (when he retakes Elmer downstairs) is the downstairs being totally wrecked–and ticks off Elmer who orders a robot from Acme to eject Daffy.

Wiley may be aware that Danae’s recent jag is not as prepostrous as it may sound to non-mathematicians. Not one myself, still I appreciate their craft, and it is one of their time-honored approach to thorny problems. You can see some of the 11 thousand examples found by google for this process, in which mathematicians ASSUME THE SOLUTION to their problem has a certain form, then just find the right numbers to plug in, just like Danae. http://tinyurl.com/dnx5kv

This technique is used by good Engineers and crooked research scientists. It is also the core of psycho-cybernetics and bunting a baseball.

Don’t knock it, Jeffrey. Danae’s magic math can help your Mars probe land on the dark side of the moon.

“That’s not how science works!!”

Oh, just assume that’s how it does, and work backwards until you get the right question. Then it will.

Actually… sometimes it is easier to start with the solution, and work your way backwards. As long as it’s a well-defined problem, you can go either way.

Hey Wiley:

Have you heard about the inverse problem in mathematics? It is just what Danae is proposing and using. And much of science does work that way (not so easy, but usually very insightfull).

The way I complete mazes is to start at the Finish and work my way back to Start. I can’t complete them by starting at Start. (seriously!) Some people say this means dyslexic mildly I’m!

Sorry, Math is not my subject! I dismiss and then, I have no comment, tho’.

Today’s scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation, and eventually build a structure which has no relation to reality.

Unless they kill each other first SaintRcat

I think we’ve just seen the origin of the “Global Warming” religion! And, of course, Jeffrey is the quintessential “Denier.”

that is how math already works in washington d.c. they have proven it over and over again danae learned from them

Wenthral says: Didn’t NASA do this with one of the Mars probes a few years back?

That happened because the project was specced out in English and built in metric. (or something like that). A half liter of beer is bigger than a pint with or without a punt.

Perhaps Wile E. Coyote could just tutor Danae.

how science works