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Source: [http://improb.com/ Annals of Improbable Research] Nr. 4(6): 4-5 (1998) | Source: [http://improb.com/ <font color=lightgrey>Annals of Improbable Research</font>] Nr. 4(6): 4-5 (1998)<br> | ||
==<font color="orange">Improbable Research: Solution for the Chicken/Egg Problem by use of Toothpaste Arithmetic</font>== | ==<font color="orange">Improbable Research: Solution for the Chicken/Egg Problem by use of Toothpaste Arithmetic</font>== | ||
[All [http://wiki2.benecke.com/index.php?title= | [More [[All Mark Benecke Publications|articles from MB]]] [Articles [http://wiki2.benecke.com/index.php?title=Media#Interviews_.26_Articles <font color=lightgrey>about MB</font>]]<br> | ||
'''BY MARK BENECKE'''<BR> | |||
Some science problems are eternal, and others nearly so. Pierre de Fermat's famous mathematical poser, for example, appeared in 1619, and lurked for 374 years before someone found a way to solve it. An even harder question has been wlth us practically forever: <br> | Some science problems are eternal, and others nearly so. Pierre de Fermat's famous mathematical poser, for example, appeared in 1619, and lurked for 374 years before someone found a way to solve it. An even harder question has been wlth us practically forever: <br> | ||
"Which came first - the chicken or the egg?" Now, thanks to a simple discovery, I have cracked this heretofore maddening problem. <br> | "Which came first - the chicken or the egg?" Now, thanks to a simple discovery, I have cracked this heretofore maddening problem. <br> | ||
'''<font color="orange">Serendipity: The German Dental ltem</font>''' | |||
'''<font color="orange">Serendipity: The German Dental ltem</font>'''<br> | |||
A German toothpaste company has made it possible to tackle the chicken-and-egg riddle in an entirely new way. Neither complex formulae nor any scientific knowledge is needed. Figure 1 shows the document which presented the key to the problem. Although I recently moved to New York City, I lived in Germany most of my life. I happened upon this item one day while shopping. It is a carton containing a tube of toothpaste. <br> | A German toothpaste company has made it possible to tackle the chicken-and-egg riddle in an entirely new way. Neither complex formulae nor any scientific knowledge is needed. Figure 1 shows the document which presented the key to the problem. Although I recently moved to New York City, I lived in Germany most of my life. I happened upon this item one day while shopping. It is a carton containing a tube of toothpaste. <br> | ||
'''<font color="orange">The Generalized Toothpaste Arithmetic Technique</font>''' | |||
'''<font color="orange">The Generalized Toothpaste Arithmetic Technique</font>'''<br> | |||
Here is how to solve the chicken-and-egg problem, or any other problem. <br> | Here is how to solve the chicken-and-egg problem, or any other problem. <br> | ||
| Line 21: | Line 28: | ||
Choose the two quantities, qualities, properties, or whatever it is you want to analyze. Write their names, one at the top left, the other at the top right. Then draw a vertical stroke-dot line down the page. After that, think of any curve that you find pretty, and plot it so that the line divides your pretty curve in two. Finally, draw two axes; there is no need to label them. <br> | Choose the two quantities, qualities, properties, or whatever it is you want to analyze. Write their names, one at the top left, the other at the top right. Then draw a vertical stroke-dot line down the page. After that, think of any curve that you find pretty, and plot it so that the line divides your pretty curve in two. Finally, draw two axes; there is no need to label them. <br> | ||
'''<font color="orange">The Solution Appears</font>''' | |||
Using the method just described, I created some sample diagrams that the reader may wish to contemplate (see Figure 2). For each of them, stare at the graph and think about the consequences of the data. Keep staring. Sooner or later, you will feel that everything in the universe is intimately related. Keep staring. Eventually, you will understand that all things are one. After you have reached this point, keep on staring, if that pleases you. | '''<font color="orange">The Solution Appears</font>'''<br> | ||
Using the method just described, I created some sample diagrams that the reader may wish to contemplate (see Figure 2). For each of them, stare at the graph and think about the consequences of the data. Keep staring. Sooner or later, you will feel that everything in the universe is intimately related. Keep staring. Eventually, you will understand that all things are one. After you have reached this point, keep on staring, if that pleases you. <br> | |||
That's the entire technique. An interesting thing here is that inversion of any of the mathematical relationships does not lead to any significant change in the graph's meaning (see Figure 3). This is the great advantage of toothpaste arithmetic over other, more complex mathematical procedures.<br> | That's the entire technique. An interesting thing here is that inversion of any of the mathematical relationships does not lead to any significant change in the graph's meaning (see Figure 3). This is the great advantage of toothpaste arithmetic over other, more complex mathematical procedures.<br> | ||
'''<font color="orange">Stunningly Simple</font>''' | |||
One happy aspect of this technique is that, unlike almost anything else in mathematics, it produces results that are obvious-stunningly so. The chicken-and-egg problem is a sterling example of this. The solution is so simple and compelling that there is no need to spell it out in words, and so I will not annoy the reader by attempting to do so here. | '''<font color="orange">Stunningly Simple</font>'''<br> | ||
One happy aspect of this technique is that, unlike almost anything else in mathematics, it produces results that are obvious-stunningly so. The chicken-and-egg problem is a sterling example of this. The solution is so simple and compelling that there is no need to spell it out in words, and so I will not annoy the reader by attempting to do so here.<br> | |||
===<font color=orange>suggested readings</font>=== | |||
<i> | |||
* [[2016 07 Hanauer Anzeiger: Der natuerliche Lauf des Lebens|Der natürliche Lauf des Lebens]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[2016 03: Radio Eins: Nestbau und Zigarettenstummel|Warum Vögel Zigarettenstummel in ihre Nester einbauen]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[1998 10 Die Zeit: Spinne im Spinat|Spinne im Spinat]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[1995 05 Die Zeit: Der vertonte Fadenwurm|Der vertonte Fadenwurm]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[1998 Die Zeit: Forschung im Namen der Ente|Forschung im Namen der Ente]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[1995 Die Zeit: Kartoffelchips im Windkanal|Kartoffelchips im Windkanal]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[1995 03 Die Zeit: Vom Schneck zum Schreck|Vom Schneck zum Schreck]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[1998 Die Zeit: Hoelle nach Herzenslust|Hölle nach Herzenslust]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[1998 Die Zeit: Kampf der Wissenschaftshumorjournale|Kampf der Wissenschaftshumorjournale]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[Media#Beispiele_f.C3.BCr_Radio-Beitr.C3.A4ge|Alle Radio-Beiträge von MB]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN LANGUAGE</font><br> | |||
* [[All_Mark_Benecke_Publications#Science_Humor.2C_Leeches.2C_Hissing_Roaches.2C_Fish.2C_Magnetic_Mountains.2C_Skeptic_Stuff|Mehr Wissenschafts-Humor]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [http://www.radioeins.de/archiv/podcast/die_profis_benecke.html <font color=lightgrey>Die Podcasts von MB bei radioeins</font>] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN LANGUAGE</font><br> | |||
* [[2014 06: Online Interview zum Thema Paranormales|Online Interview zum Thema Paranormales]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [http://benecke.com/pdf/Hausarbeit_Polizei_Spontane_Menschliche_Selbstentzuendung_Laura_Hofmann.pdf <font color=lightgrey>Spontane menschliche Selbstentzündung</font>] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[2010-03 Skeptiker: Vampire ohne Bis(s)|Vampire ohne Bis(s)]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[2010-02 Skeptiker: Dreiundzwanzig|Dreiundzwanzig]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[2006 MAGIE PUR!: Über Geistererscheinungen|Calmet. Vorwort "Über Geistererscheinungen"]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[2005 Laborjournal: Spiderman: Sex hat sehr wohl stattgefunden|Spiderman & MJ: Sex hat stattgefunden]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[2004 Skeptiker Magazin: Das Blutwunder von Neapel|Das Blutwunder von Neapel]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[2004 03: Sueddeutsche Zeitung Das Geheimnis der Piraten|Das Geheimnis der Piraten]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[2002 Skeptical Inquirer: Magnetic Mountains|Magnetic Mountains]]<br> | |||
* [[2001 12 FAZ: High - Tech - Ritter Troy Hurtubise|Ein High-Tech-Ritter im Kampf gegen Schläger, Jeeps und Bären]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[2001 09 Sueddeutsche Zeitung: Pharaonenfluch|Endlich Ruhe im Sarkophag - Das Ende des Pharaonenfluchs]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [http://www.gwup.org/component/content/article/107-sonstige-themen/761-spontane-menschliche-selbstentzuendung <font color=lightgrey>Spontane menschliche Selbstentzündung</font>] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [http://archiv.sueddeutsche.de/sueddz/index.php?id=A12522828_EGTPOGWPPOPAWAGOWSWWHWH <font color=lightgrey>Bigfoot auf Asiatisch</font>] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[2001 Die Zeit: Geliebte mit Hunderttausend Volt|Geliebte mit hunderttausend Volt]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[2000-01 Skeptiker: Patente Unternehmer|Patente Unternehmer. US-Patentbehörde erteilt Ideenschutz, ohne die Erfindungen zu prüfen]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[2001-11-28 SeroNews: Angewandte SHC: Plötzliche Selbst-Entzündung von Menschen|Angewandte SHC]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[1999 01 Die Zeit: Manche Tote leben laenger|Manche Tote leben länger. Lenins Leiche erzählt die Geschichte russischer Präparierkunst]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[1998 Skeptical Inquirer: Spontaneous Human Combustion|Spontaneuos Human Combustion (SHC) - thoughts of a forensic biologist]]<br> | |||
* [[1998 06 TAZ: Chindogus|Nie wieder nasse Bücher]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
* [[2000-05_AiR:_Bomby_The_Bombardier_Beetle_Review|Bomby: Thoughts of a Forensic Entomologist]] <font size="-2" color="#FF0000" face="helvetica">GERMAN TEXT</font><br> | |||
</i> | |||
Revision as of 21:28, 8 August 2017
Source: Annals of Improbable Research Nr. 4(6): 4-5 (1998)
Improbable Research: Solution for the Chicken/Egg Problem by use of Toothpaste Arithmetic
[More articles from MB] [Articles about MB]
BY MARK BENECKE
Some science problems are eternal, and others nearly so. Pierre de Fermat's famous mathematical poser, for example, appeared in 1619, and lurked for 374 years before someone found a way to solve it. An even harder question has been wlth us practically forever:
"Which came first - the chicken or the egg?" Now, thanks to a simple discovery, I have cracked this heretofore maddening problem.
Serendipity: The German Dental ltem
A German toothpaste company has made it possible to tackle the chicken-and-egg riddle in an entirely new way. Neither complex formulae nor any scientific knowledge is needed. Figure 1 shows the document which presented the key to the problem. Although I recently moved to New York City, I lived in Germany most of my life. I happened upon this item one day while shopping. It is a carton containing a tube of toothpaste.
The Generalized Toothpaste Arithmetic Technique
Here is how to solve the chicken-and-egg problem, or any other problem.
Buy a bicarbonate toothpaste in any German Drogeriemärkten (drugstores). Then follow the simple arithmetic rules given on the cardboard packaging. (You can throw away the tube of toothpaste; you won't need it.)
Choose the two quantities, qualities, properties, or whatever it is you want to analyze. Write their names, one at the top left, the other at the top right. Then draw a vertical stroke-dot line down the page. After that, think of any curve that you find pretty, and plot it so that the line divides your pretty curve in two. Finally, draw two axes; there is no need to label them.
The Solution Appears
Using the method just described, I created some sample diagrams that the reader may wish to contemplate (see Figure 2). For each of them, stare at the graph and think about the consequences of the data. Keep staring. Sooner or later, you will feel that everything in the universe is intimately related. Keep staring. Eventually, you will understand that all things are one. After you have reached this point, keep on staring, if that pleases you.
That's the entire technique. An interesting thing here is that inversion of any of the mathematical relationships does not lead to any significant change in the graph's meaning (see Figure 3). This is the great advantage of toothpaste arithmetic over other, more complex mathematical procedures.
Stunningly Simple
One happy aspect of this technique is that, unlike almost anything else in mathematics, it produces results that are obvious-stunningly so. The chicken-and-egg problem is a sterling example of this. The solution is so simple and compelling that there is no need to spell it out in words, and so I will not annoy the reader by attempting to do so here.
suggested readings
- Der natürliche Lauf des Lebens GERMAN TEXT
- Spinne im Spinat GERMAN TEXT
- Der vertonte Fadenwurm GERMAN TEXT
- Forschung im Namen der Ente GERMAN TEXT
- Kartoffelchips im Windkanal GERMAN TEXT
- Vom Schneck zum Schreck GERMAN TEXT
- Hölle nach Herzenslust GERMAN TEXT
- Kampf der Wissenschaftshumorjournale GERMAN TEXT
- Alle Radio-Beiträge von MB GERMAN LANGUAGE
- Mehr Wissenschafts-Humor GERMAN TEXT
- Die Podcasts von MB bei radioeins GERMAN LANGUAGE
- Online Interview zum Thema Paranormales GERMAN TEXT
- Spontane menschliche Selbstentzündung GERMAN TEXT
- Vampire ohne Bis(s) GERMAN TEXT
- Dreiundzwanzig GERMAN TEXT
- Calmet. Vorwort "Über Geistererscheinungen" GERMAN TEXT
- Spiderman & MJ: Sex hat stattgefunden GERMAN TEXT
- Das Blutwunder von Neapel GERMAN TEXT
- Das Geheimnis der Piraten GERMAN TEXT
- Spontane menschliche Selbstentzündung GERMAN TEXT
- Bigfoot auf Asiatisch GERMAN TEXT
- Geliebte mit hunderttausend Volt GERMAN TEXT
- Patente Unternehmer. US-Patentbehörde erteilt Ideenschutz, ohne die Erfindungen zu prüfen GERMAN TEXT
- Angewandte SHC GERMAN TEXT
- Manche Tote leben länger. Lenins Leiche erzählt die Geschichte russischer Präparierkunst GERMAN TEXT
- Nie wieder nasse Bücher GERMAN TEXT
- Bomby: Thoughts of a Forensic Entomologist GERMAN TEXT
Dr. rer. medic. Mark Benecke · Diplombiologe (verliehen in Deutschland) · Öffentlich bestellter und vereidigter Sachverständiger für kriminaltechnische Sicherung, Untersuchung u. Auswertung von biologischen Spuren (IHK Köln) · Landsberg-Str. 16, 50678 Köln, Deutschland, E-Mail: forensic@benecke.com · www.benecke.com · Umsatzsteueridentifikationsnummer: ID: DE212749258 · Aufsichtsbehörde: Industrie- und Handelskammer zu Köln, Unter Sachsenhausen 10-26, 50667 Köln, Deutschland · Fallbearbeitung und Termine nur auf echtem Papier. Absprachen per E-mail sind nur vorläufige Gedanken und nicht bindend. 🗺 Dr. Mark Benecke, M. Sc., Ph.D. · Certified & Sworn In Forensic Biologist · International Forensic Research & Consulting · Postfach 250411 · 50520 Cologne · Germany · Text SMS in criminalistic emergencies (never call me): +49.171.177.1273 · Anonymous calls & suppressed numbers will never be answered. · Dies ist eine Notfall-Nummer für SMS in aktuellen, kriminalistischen Notfällen). · Rufen Sie niemals an. · If it is not an actual emergency, send an e-mail. · If it is an actual emergency, send a text message (SMS) · Never call. · Facebook Fan Site · Benecke Homepage · Instagram Fan Page · Datenschutz-Erklärung · Impressum · Archive Page · Kein Kontakt über soziale Netzwerke. · Never contact me via social networks since I never read messages & comments there.