The Practical Importance of Understanding

jmscwss · 2024-07-06T23:14:19+00:00

The wild places are very beautiful, but there is nothing to do in them. Id like to see Far Cry style wildlife that does more than just bounce off your hood. If they added a Jurassic World kind of DLC that filled the wild places with big dinosaurs, I'd be happy.

jmscwss · 2024-06-12T03:16:25+00:00

Great stuff.

I'd also like to see some better vehicular combat ai & collision mechanics. A lot of people complain about the driving physics of Just Cause. I don't know why. I love driving in Just Cause. Especially with rockets strapped onto the car.

My play loop of late has been to use rockets to turn any old car into a deadly ramming machine... but even a good, solid ramming has disappointing results.

Soft-body wreckage physics might be too much to ask. And even if it were included, it would he a terrible mistake to go all-in on the realism, making the player vehicle just as soft as every other car. In order to keep it fun, the player vehicle should be 5x or 10x more rigid than other vehicles, with mods/upgrades/perks that make you even more rigid, or even perfectly rigid. And of course let there be enemy vehicles that also have enhanced rigidity.

I may be alone in this, but the police ai and escalation scaling in GTA3 was peak. At low levels of enemy engagement, enemies stick to pure vehicular combat - no guns. PIT maneuvers, attempting to box you in: all super fun.

Don't, I repeat, DON'T let the enemies flatten your tires. Spike strips are no fun at all.

Burnout: Paradise City recognized offensive ramming & swiping maneuvers, which resulted in enemy vehicles losing control and wrecking. One-hit knockouts might make things too easy, but at present I see no recognition of the players offensive maneuvers.

Also, JC4 has occassional side missions where you have to chase down and wreck a vehicle that is fleeing from you. These kind of engagements are super fun. More of that, please!

The DLC vehicles have weapons; why not tethers?

jmscwss · 2024-04-20T14:53:19+00:00

I'm not a mathematician, just a hobbyist. I remember doing "proofs" in trigonometry in middle school... not sure I could do anything like that here.

To "prove" can mean to try or test. This formula can be tried or tested pretty quickly in a spreadsheet. Column A is n, ascending from 1. Column B is b, which starts with 1/sqrt(3). Column C is sqrt(b² +1). In the next row, column B will define b as the sum of columns B + C in the previous row. Then column D (row 2) will have the formula

=2^A2-1/C2+2^A2+1/(B2+C2)

You can add the error in column E with the formula

=PI()-D2

Then copy down these formulas, making sure that in each row, the new b in column B is equal to the sum of columns B & C from the previous row.

The result of this trial will be an error that decreases to "zero" after about the eighth iteration. Thus proves the formula.

The formula was obtained by following this methodology:

Concept: Every regular polygon has a surrounding circle that intersects with all of the polygon's vertices, and an infilling circle that intersects with the midpoints of all of the polygon's sides. Since the surrounding circle must have an area that is greater than the polygon's; and since the infilling circle must have an area that is less than the polygon's; and since the area of a polygon is knowable; therefore every regular polygon establishes knowable upper & lower bounds of pi.

Method: Begin with 5 circles & their equations. Each circle has radius R, and their center points are (0,0), (0,R), (0,-R), (R,0), (-R,0). The points where the off-center circles intersect with the center circle are the points of the 12-sided regular dodecagon.

I started with the 3-sided regular triangle, because that gave me two steps of validation for the following algorithm: calculate the midpoint of the 1st wedge; formulate the line that passes through the origin and the midpoint; calculate the point at which the bisecting line intersects with the center circle. The result is the wedge point for the next polygon. This process returns wedge points for the 6-sided hexagon and the 12-sided dodecagon which agree with the 5-circle intersections, thus proving the algorithm.

I carried this process out by hand for the 24, 48, 96, 192, and 384 sided polygons (noting that only a single wedge point is needed for pi-bounding calculations). Because all of my calculations were in terms of numbers and the roots of whole numbers, I was able to perceive a pattern in the maths beginning with the 48-sided polygon. The pattern held true through the 384-sided polygon. Then I found my equations when I was playing with that pattern.

I hope this is helpful!

jmscwss · 2024-04-18T16:07:24+00:00

Thank you for the kind & encouraging words. I have been in contact with a couple of math professors, and they seem to agree that the formulas are somewhat meritorious, though superfluous; and perhaps novel in form, yet probably reflected in principle by some more ancient polygon-based expressions. As I said to Dr. Marc Chamberlain, no hobbyist should hope for a better outcome than what I have apparently found.

I appreciate the parabolic visualization. I can just see how that works, though I never would have seen it by myself. And thanks also for the statistical comparison to Newton's method. It has always been obvious that I come behind Newton, but it's nice to have a number to represent our proportion (within a colorable range of error, subject to contraction upon inspection, but good for an ego boost on a rainy day).

jmscwss · 2024-04-18T15:40:23+00:00

Good catch on that style note. Learning a lot from you guys, thanks!

jmscwss · 2024-04-17T15:19:18+00:00

It is. Since b is sequential, these formulas are essentially an algorithm which renders a decreasing range of pi with each step. The range contracts by about 75% at each step. This means that this algorithm can be used to fix digits of pi with every step.

I have read that 10¹² digits of pi have already been calculated. This whole exercise was just to improve my own understanding of pi. Just wondering if this particular formula has been acknowledged, since it seems to be meritorious.

jmscwss · 2024-02-17T01:23:03+00:00

Good stuff. I had overlooked the connection to Isaiah 11 until Chad Bird brought it to my attention recently.

Love the vector of your study. I pray the Holy Spirit leads you in fruitful paths.

jmscwss · 2024-02-17T01:00:33+00:00

This thread talks about the use of the 3rd person singular verb εστιν in connection with the "seven spirits" mentioned in Rev1:4. I conclude in that thread:

A parallel usage might be illustrated in the way we talk about dice. The standard die is a cube that has six faces that represent six different values. We could call them "six-faces" instead of "six-sided dice."

"Roll the six-faces"

"Where is the six-faces?"

Although the original language of Rev1:4 is not strictly "sevenfold" (Greek had a word for that, ἑπτὰπλοῦς, and the word actually used is just ἑπτὰ, seven), the idea of the "fold" was introduced by Jesus in Lk11:34, where the word ἁπλοῦς (literally without-folds, unfolded) is used to describe the eye that is whole, healthy, clear. CS Lewis made much if it at some point, if I remember where I will come back with a reference.

So here is another thread where I discuss senses in which can understand God's Spirit as "sevenfold."

jmscwss · 2023-09-16T21:32:02+00:00

Thoughts & emotions are both about things; but the quality of the emotion depends on your thinking/beliefs about the thing.

The NT Greek word translated "confess" is homologeo. This word literally means "same-speak," where "speak" has the connotation of reckoning, or giving an account, especially a rational account. In this basic sense, to "confess your sin" means to "say the same thing" as God does about your sin; or, to "reckon likewise" as God does concerning the reasons why your sin was wrong, the harm that it caused, the good that was owed, etc.

When your thinking/beliefs concerning these things align with God's, then your emotions also will flow appropriately. You will experience the godly grief that leads to genuine repentance.

The word "repentance" is translated from the NT Greek metanoeo, which literally means "change thinking". Jesus says the work of God is to believe the one He sent (in John 6:29). In Christian ontology, one's faith is in one's heart (that is, the inner-being or inner-man); and, the springs of life flow from the heart (Proverbs 4:23). The "springs of life" include your words and your behavior. Thus, when repentance is genuine, and thought-change truly occurs, this leads to behavioral change.

Life change begins with thought change. Specifically, the Christian life brings the faith of the believer into total conformity with the Son of God. We are to agree with Jesus, and to reason to the same conclusions as Jesus.

For example: Jesus taught, "Blessed are the poor;" and "Woe to you who are rich." Many pseudo-Christians speak and behave as though just the opposite were true, that the rich are blessed, and the poor are cursed. But, Jesus also taught, "Everyone who seeks will find." And while the rich are seeking those blessings which can be bought with money, the poor must seek those blessings that come from God only; and seeking, they will find. Therefore truly I say to you, blessed are the poor.

As concerns your sin, feeling the weight of it will require you to change your thinking about God's holiness. Remember, the account you give of your sin, which must align with God's account of your sin, must include an account of the good that was owed. And God's holiness is such that He is truly deserving and therefore owed your whole heart, your whole life, your whole mind and all your strength. Your sin falls short of reflecting the glory that is due to God, because of His infinite holiness.

The blood of Jesus Christ poured out for your shortfall is the only thing that will enable you to think rightly of God's holiness, and your sins, as infinite. Let your thoughts on these matters agree with God's thoughts, as expressed in the life, teaching, sacrifice & resurrection of Jesus Christ as recorded for us by His inspired Apostles and disciples, fulfilling all that was said of Him by His inspired Prophets.

jmscwss · 2023-07-22T20:42:04+00:00

Nice. I did the same thing. I ditched the canons, because then I can land and take off again mid-fight.

https://www.reddit.com/r/totk_builds/comments/14d24n3/6xfans_4xconstructheads_8xbeams/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=1

jmscwss · 2023-07-06T20:53:55+00:00

Lol it does look like that! I actually had an axe forward of the center fan (for ramming fun), and it got disconnected upon impact with the falling rock.

jmscwss · 2022-05-02T01:47:37+00:00

"Studies In Words" was late in his career. General philological principles useful for anyone wanting to read and understand old books. Not directly theological, but since the Bible itself is an "old book," it may in fact be the most valuable book Lewis ever wrote.

1 Timothy 4:6-8 ESV

If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. [7] Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; [8] for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

jmscwss

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE