Advice For Mr. Sklansky

[Zeno]

I would think you could put your time to better use than spending it playing video poker at the Bellagio, (even if, I would guess, it was during a break from a game).

For example, bring a good book to the poker room to read, work on more posts to expose the frauds that infest this forum, start composing your memoirs, put more effort into promoting your religion, or work on relaxing that ever overwrought and hyperactive mind that bounces about in your cranial cavity. Some Epicurus or Lucretius or Seneca or even some Marcus Aurelius could be of some use for calming this agitation, thus killing two birds with one stone during your interludes away from the table. In addition it may improve your poker game.

By the way, your middle age paunch is quite fashionable, as is the red ‘dog poker’ shirt. I will be generous and not mention the degenerate and rather indefinable hairline.

Le Misanthrope

[BluffTHIS!]

I am glad you put the "Mr." in front of David's last name to insure your post did not have a direspectful tone.

But how would you know to what better use he could put his time? If this is not a hoax but an accurate report, did you bother to check that machine? 100-1 says it was either a +EV progressive or a >100% payback machine. And why should he read philosophical/religious tomes when he can get the gist of same from others here?

And regarding time being better spent, the time you took to write your post could have been better spent on a microlimit table online instead.

Nice that you can write these things about a person while hiding behind anonymity.

Hi Zeno,

Perhaps you could better spend your time not telling others how they can better spend their time.

Best wishes

[Wes ManTooth]

What lead you to post this and what type of responce are you looking for?

[jason_t]

[ QUOTE ]
What lead you to post this and what type of responce are you looking for?

[/ QUOTE ]

A better question is what led all the people that are misinterpreting the OP to do so?

[sweetjazz]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi Zeno,

Perhaps you could better spend your time not telling others how they can better spend their time.

Best wishes

[/ QUOTE ]

Perhaps Zeno would better spend his time figuring how anyone gets anywhere, since they have to get halfway there first, and then when they are halfway there, they have to go half of the remaining distance, and when they do that, they still have to go half of the distance that now remains, and so on and so forth. It's all quite paradoxical.

[jason_t]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Hi Zeno,

Perhaps you could better spend your time not telling others how they can better spend their time.

Best wishes

[/ QUOTE ]

Perhaps Zeno would better spend his time figuring how anyone gets anywhere, since they have to get halfway there first, and then when they are halfway there, they have to go half of the remaining distance, and when they do that, they still have to go half of the distance that now remains, and so on and so forth. It's all quite paradoxical.

[/ QUOTE ]

[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

One of my favorite things this quarter while being a TA for calculus II was explaining to my students this paradox and the geometric series sum 1/2^n.

[sweetjazz]

My favorite summation trick using the geometric series is the following argument:

sum of x^n = (1 - x)^(-1)
differentiate to get
sum of n x^(n-1) = (1 - x)^(-2)
multiply by x to get
sum of n x^n = x * (1 - x)^(-2)

So, e.g.
sum of n / 2^n = 2.

[jason_t]

[ QUOTE ]
My favorite summation trick using the geometric series is the following argument:

sum of x^n = (1 - x)^(-1)
differentiate to get
sum of n x^(n-1) = (1 - x)^(-2)
multiply by x to get
sum of n x^n = x * (1 - x)^(-2)

So, e.g.
sum of n / 2^n = 2.

[/ QUOTE ]

I like this one:

(d/dx) ln(1-x) = -1/(1-x) = -sum x^n

so

ln(1-x) = -sum x^(n+1) / (n+1)

hence

ln(2) = 1-1/2+1/3-1/4+1/5-1/6+....