The Farrellel Universe

Here is a computer animation from (supposedly) 1981. I think the face animations look similar to Master Control Program from Tron. I like the music. It's eerily weird and sort of makes me think of the 1980's incarnation of Mr. Wizard's World

John Whitney was an early creator of computer animations. As the titles explain, he used a computer to control the development of film in order to create computer generated imagery. This is his 1975 masterpiece, Arabesque.

The worst thing about Time Travel isn't the possibility of interrupting your parent's courtship. It isn't the danger of creating a paradox that rushes backwards through time, eradicating the universe. It isn't forgetting the keys to your time machine in the Morlock tunnels.

The worst part about traveling through time is tenses. Our fragile three dimensional minds can barely comprehend the four right-angled vertices that make up the next dimension. How can we possibly expect our language to be up to par?

Forget hypercubes and those topology classes you took as an undergrad. As a time traveler, you can handle a flat torus in the three sphere more easily than you'll be able to describe your trip.

You'll find yourself a slave to gnarled mutations of conditional future subjunctive.

• I am going to have already been engaged in plotting the 1975 disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa for 2 years next week when I start yesterday.
• Mary Magdalene wasn't really much of a party girl when I am going to met her three years ago. Surprisingly, Judas is going to was be more fun.
• I am going to have been knowing the answer to whether Harper Lee or Truman Capote wrote "To Kill A Mockingbird" five minutes ago. I already told you an hour from then.

I propose we begin the preparations for the tumultuous task of defining new grammars to deal with the implications of time travel, as soon as possible. Don't think, "Oh, we can just wait until we invent time travel, go back in time and start planning then." That's the folly. If we wait that long, we'll find ourselves bogged down in the mire of communicating how we will have been already creating a language to stop us from having to have been already having had this conversation about avoiding just this type of grammar.

Don't get me started about the difficulties in trying to schedule a meeting between two time travelers. It will loosen your frail mind.

Here's a classic puzzle. Add your explanation to comments.

Three travelers who don't know each other show up at a hotel at the same time. Since a convention is in town, the hotel is overbooked. Only one room is left.

The hotel manager tells them, if they are willing to share the room, they can split the cost of the room, $30, and each pay a third of it, $10.

The travelers go ahead an do it and the bellboy shows them to their room.

Sitting in the lobby, the hotel manager reconsiders. I should refund those guys some money for being so accommodating. The manager gives the bellboy, who just returned from showing the men to their rooms, $5 to give to the travelers.

The bellboy is on his way upstairs and thinks, "They'll never be able to split $5 evenly between them. I'll just keep $2 and give them the $3."

He goes to the room and gives them each a $1.

So...

• Each traveler paid $9 for the room ($10 originally - $1 refund)
• The bellboy kept $2

$9 * 3 travellers = $27 + the $2 the bellboy kept is $29.

What happened to the other dollar?

MSOH 1

From a comment by fintler on Slashdot. Can you prove this one wrong? Just like my math skillz, I knew which line was the error, but didn't have the reason (which was simple). I always had problems with proofs and pure math.

So much for my $200 calculator.

wait, you paid $200 for a calculator?

b = $100
a = b
a^2 = ab
a^2-b^2 = ab-b^2
(a+b)(a-b) = b(a-b)
a+b = b
since a = b
b+b = b
2b = b
$200 = $100

They ripped you off. $200 is really only worth $100

check the comments for the answer!