%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |    Not for the faint of art. |
|
Complex Numbers A complex number is expressed in the standard form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is defined by i^2 = -1 (that is, i is the square root of -1). For example, 3 + 2i is a complex number. The bi term is often referred to as an imaginary number (though this may be misleading, as it is no more "imaginary" than the symbolic abstractions we know as the "real" numbers). Thus, every complex number has a real part, a, and an imaginary part, bi. Complex numbers are often represented on a graph known as the "complex plane," where the horizontal axis represents the infinity of real numbers, and the vertical axis represents the infinity of imaginary numbers. Thus, each complex number has a unique representation on the complex plane: some closer to real; others, more imaginary. If a = b, the number is equal parts real and imaginary. Very simple transformations applied to numbers in the complex plane can lead to fractal structures of enormous intricacy and astonishing beauty. ![Merit Badge in Quill Award
[Click For More Info]
Congratulations on winning Best Blog in the 2021 edition of [Link To Item #quills] !](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Quill_Award-1375927_6.gif) ![Merit Badge in Quill Award 2
[Click For More Info]
2022 Quill Award - Best Blog - [Link To Item #1196512] . Congratulations!!!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Quill_Award_2-1375927_6.gif) ![Merit Badge in 30DBC Winner
[Click For More Info]
Congratulations on winning the Jan. 2019 [Link To Item #30dbc] !!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-30DBC_Winner-2064535_14.gif) ![Merit Badge in Blogging
[Click For More Info]
Congratulations on winning an honorable mention for Best Blog at the 2018 Quill Awards for [Link To Item #1196512] . *^*Smile*^* This award was sponsored by the blogging consortium including [Link To Item #30dbc] , [Link To Item #blogcity] , [Link To Item #bcof] and [Link To Item #1953629] . For more details, see [Link To Item #quills] .](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/type-Blogging-2180.gif) ![Merit Badge in Highly Recommended
[Click For More Info]
I highly recommend your blog.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/Kudos-Highly_Recommended.gif) ![Merit Badge in Opinion
[Click For More Info]
For diving into the prompts for Journalistic Intentions- thanks for joining the fun!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Opinion-1150.gif) ![Merit Badge in High Five
[Click For More Info]
For your inventive entries in [Link To Item #2213121] ! Thanks for the great read!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/Kudos-High_Five.gif) ![Merit Badge in Enlightening
[Click For More Info]
For winning 3rd Place in [Link To Item #2213121] . Congratulations!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Enlightening.gif) ![Merit Badge in Quarks Bar
[Click For More Info]
For your awesome Klingon Bloodwine recipe from [Link to Book Entry #1016079] that deserves to be on the topmost shelf at Quark's.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Quarks_Bar-2046190_12.gif)       |
| A friend of mine once told me -- I think he got it from a movie or something -- that everyone has a superpower. PROMPT May 25th What is the most useless skill you have? The most valuable? I was describing to another friend once the way rabbits act when threatened. They're prey animals with few defenses apart from speed, so they get et a lot. They make up for this with their famous reproductive strategy: make a lot of bunnies and maybe some of them don't get et, and those go on to make more lots of bunnies. Point is, with a reproductive strategy like that and a relative lack of defenses, bunnies are pretty much Russian fatalists when it comes to being about to get et. A wolf comes sauntering along, baring its teeth, and if the lagomorph can't escape, it'll just stop its own heart so it dies quickly instead of by being bit a lot. My friend said, "Worst superpower ever." Yes, of course I know it's "eaten," not "et," but some words are just too funny not to use. Anyway, the friend who told me about the superpower thing told someone else that my superpower is punning. I don't know. I mean, I'm pretty good at it. But I think my real superpower, the one that almost never fails me, is being able to ignore rules about which drinks can be drunk before which other drinks. You know, the whole "liquor before beer, never fear" thing. Or is it the other way around? I honestly don't know because it doesn't apply to me. I can drink -- and have done so, on many occasions -- any type of alcoholic beverage, in any order. I might start with beer or whiskey, then move on to tequila or wine, maybe have some cider, throw in some rum... whatever. Sure, I get hangovers like anyone, but no combination can make me sick, only excessive quantities. Naturally there are mixtures that I stay away from; mixing wine and beer is an unholy abomination against all that is beautiful and right with the world, like carpeting your bathroom or drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth. But drinking one and then the other? Not a problem. This practice does, however, tend to suppress my punning abilities, which is why I call it my true superpower. And it's mostly useless. I mean, it's nice to have because I drink for the taste, not to get drunk, and I like to sample different products. Getting drunk is usually a result, not a goal. Usually. Sometimes these days I read a news story and getting blotted becomes the goal, but not often. Anyway, I don't know if it's a "skill" or not, because it's not something I get better at with practice (and I've had quite a bit of practice), but it was the first thing that came to mind for "most useless skill." As for the most valuable, I'd say, technically, the ability to design stormwater management systems. I mean, that's the one with the most earning potential back when I was using it. I expect I could still do it, so it counts as a skill, I suppose. But it's boring. There's also writing, which I think is valuable but no one else does; and finance, which keeps me from having to design stormwater management systems for a living. "Valuable," of course, is a value judgment, by tautological definition. My mind went to "what skills can make me the most money?" But others might find that skills that produce non-monetary rewards to be the most valuable. Relating to other people, for example, or being a good parent, or the ability to dress in a matching outfit, none of which are in my skillset at all. I only care about money. And booze. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
when I saw this. On the bright side, if the author smokes enough weed, maybe this kind of phrasing will fall by the wayside. In that case, uh, yay, weed?
Whoops...