Philosophy Now Forum

Mathematics:

The Circle.

I just love the circle. I dont know this mysterious thing. It is just beautiful. But I can not figure it out.

I sometime wonder if a perfect circle even exists. No examples of it in nature.

Is it all in the mind.

Whats a ripple? Or the circle you can draw with a compass? What do you mean by a 'perfect' circle?

Perhaps every man's life is a perfect circle lived through untold perfect moments of time?

Its a matter of Perspective.
The following illustration is a side view of a "perfect circle"!


___________________

nameless wrote:Its a matter of Perspective.
The following illustration is a side view of a "perfect circle"!


___________________

That was good!

Its a nice thought but would it not be an example of a 'perfect' ring rather than a circle? As it has a third dimension from this perspective.

PI = 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288...

Either that or someone baked the wrong pie.

When pi is an endless number, how on Earth can there be a full circle.

At best, we can see imperfect circles. But never complete circle.

It seems that the perfect circle is not a piece of pie.

Arising_uk wrote:Its a nice thought but would it not be an example of a 'perfect' ring rather than a circle? As it has a third dimension from this perspective.

The 'ring' is in the form of a perfect circle.
Think, also, metaphor. The map is not the territory.
Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. I perceive all as 'perfect', every moment of existence.

Also, that which is not perceived cannot exist.

I found it !

I found it !



A Perfect Circle


http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1735158

Perhaps the point of the circle (yes, circles can have 'points', and 'points' can be circles!) is not the 'circleness', as there are many kinds (as many as perceptions thereof) of 'circle'.
Perhaps the point is how many 'points' can exist within that circle?

ray wrote:PI = 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288...

Either that or someone baked the wrong pie.

When pi is an endless number, how on Earth can there be a full circle.

At best, we can see imperfect circles. But never complete circle.

It seems that the perfect circle is not a piece of pie.

Only if you assume that mathematical forms exist, or, you could ignore geometry as algebra and hinge two equal pointed lengths together and draw perfect and complete circles to your hearts content.

The same cognitive error is applicable to '1/3'.
We all know what a third of something is, one of three equal divisions.
A beam balance can divvy up 1/3 ounce of gold rather easily. 3 (volumetrically and massively) = parts.
Yet when we decimalize one third, we find the problem. There cannot ever be 1/3 decimally. Perhaps it is the math that is unrealistic, rather than the perfect circles that are observed all over the place in nature; a drop of oil in still water, for instance...
If I hold a rock in my hand, and you have some math that indicates that the rock is a banana, I'd say that however tautol;ogically correct the math is, it is faulty in describing perceived reality. All is perfect, every perfect moment/percept of existence (in context).
A perfect circle perceived is a perfect circle existing.

I think the issue may be with the radius.

The mysterious pi is messing things up.

Either we dont have a perfect circle, or we dont have its exact center.

The only thing we do see is the circumference.

We might need to get rid of the pie.

Jack wrote:I found it !

I found it !

A Perfect Circle

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1735158

I shall now type a perfect circle in about four seconds: x^2 + y ^2 = 1

Hi Richard,

Wow, that was fast, I thought it took 15 days to make a circle.

_________________