#math community

[xyymath]

Why the Number Zero Changed Everything

Zero: a concept so foundational to modern mathematics, science, and technology that we often forget it wasn’t always there. Its presence in our world today seems obvious, but its journey from controversial abstraction to indispensable tool has shaped entire civilizations.

1. The Birth of Zero: A Revolutionary Idea

The concept of zero didn't exist in many ancient cultures. For example, the Greeks, despite their advancements in geometry and number theory, rejected the idea of a placeholder for nothingness. The Babylonians had a placeholder symbol (a space or two slashes) for zero, but they didn't treat it as a number. It wasn't until Indian mathematicians in the 5th century, like Brahmagupta, that zero was truly conceptualized and treated as a number with its own properties.

Zero was initially used as a place-holder in the decimal system, but soon evolved into a full-fledged number with mathematical properties, marking a huge leap in human cognition.

2. The Birth of Algebra

Imagine trying to solve equations like x + 5 = 0 without zero. With zero, algebra becomes solvable, opening up entire fields of study. Before zero’s arrival, solving equations involving unknowns was rudimentary, relying on geometric methods. The Indian mathematician Brahmagupta (again) was one of the first to establish rules for zero in algebraic operations, such as:

x + 0 = x (additive identity)

x × 0 = 0 (multiplicative property)

These properties allowed algebra to evolve into a system of abstract thought rather than just arithmetic, transforming the ways we understand equations, functions, and polynomials.

3. Calculus and Zero: A Relationship Built on Limits

Without zero, the foundation of calculus—limits, derivatives, and integrals—wouldn’t exist. The limit concept is intrinsically tied to approaching zero as a boundary. In differentiation, the derivative of a function f(x) is defined as:

f'(x) = \lim_{h \to 0} \frac{f(x+h) - f(x)}{h}

This limit process hinges on the ability to manipulate and conceptualize zero in infinitesimal quantities. Similarly, integrals, which form the backbone of area under curves and summation of continuous data, rely on summing infinitely small quantities—essentially working with zero.

Without the concept of zero, we wouldn’t have the means to rigorously define rates of change or accumulation, effectively stalling physics, engineering, and economics.

4. Zero and the Concept of Nothingness: The Philosophical Impact

Zero is more than just a number; it’s an idea that forces us to confront nothingness. Its acceptance was met with philosophical resistance in ancient times. How could "nothing" be real? How could nothing be useful in equations? But once mathematicians recognized zero as a number in its own right, it transformed entire philosophical discussions. It even challenged ideas in theology (e.g., the nature of creation and void).

In set theory, zero is the size of the empty set—the set that contains no elements. But without zero, there would be no way to express or manipulate sets of nothing. Thus, zero's philosophical acceptance paved the way for advanced theories in logic and mathematical foundations.

5. The Computing Revolution: Zero as a Binary Foundation

Fast forward to today. Every piece of digital technology—from computers to smartphones—relies on binary systems: sequences of 1s and 0s. These two digits are the fundamental building blocks of computer operations. The idea of Boolean algebra, where values are either true (1) or false (0), is deeply rooted in zero’s ability to represent "nothing" or "off."

The computational world relies on logical gates, where zero is interpreted as false, allowing us to build anything from a basic calculator to the complex AI systems that drive modern technology. Zero, in this context, is as important as one—and it's been essential in shaping the digital age.

6. Zero and Its Role in Modern Fields

In modern fields like physics and economics, zero plays a crucial role in explaining natural phenomena and building theories. For instance:

In physics, zero-point energy (the lowest possible energy state) describes phenomena in quantum mechanics and cosmology.

In economics, zero is the reference point for economic equilibrium, and the concept of "breaking even" relies on zero profit/loss.

Zero allows us to make sense of the world, whether we’re measuring the empty vacuum of space or examining the marginal cost of producing one more unit in economics.

7. The Mathematical Utility of Zero

Zero is essential in defining negative numbers. Without zero as the boundary between positive and negative values, our number system would collapse. The number line itself relies on zero as the anchor point, dividing positive and negative values. Vector spaces, a fundamental structure in linear algebra, depend on the concept of a zero vector as the additive identity.

The coordinate system and graphs we use to model data in statistics, geometry, and trigonometry would not function as we know them today. Without zero, there could be no Cartesian plane, and concepts like distance, midpoint, and slope would be incoherent.

[kimblestudies]

would anyone be interested in an upper level mathematics discord? I know there's math and hw servers out there but I was thinking it may be nice to help each other with let's say everything past precal ?

[phantomrose96]

You can be talking to someone and she'll be like, "Oh I made a silly mistake. Women don't deserve voting rights teehee." And you'll be like, "What." And she'll be like, "Oh I'm sorry! That must sound so bad out of context. No it's this Tiktok meme where, if you're a girl and you do something dumb, you say 'Women don't deserve voting rights teehee.'"

And you'll be like, "That sounds bad." And she'll be like, "No no. It's totally not that bad. It's just a meme. Men say it too. Like if a man does something silly he'll be like, 'I am like those women who do not deserve to vote.'" And you'll be like, "Does that make it better?" And she'll be like, "Well there was one guy who tried to make 'Men shouldn't vote' a popular meme. But it never caught on and also he got yelled at a lot."

And then you drop it there because like, you're harshing the vibe.

[cannibalisticdespair]

So, humanity is at over eight billion people. Time for a bit of statistics education for y'all, because I feel like it.

Okay, take a group that's around 1%. At least officially, it could possibly be higher. So like,

BPD: 1.6% officially

DID: 1.5% officially

Trans: 1.14% officially

Schizophrenia: 1.1%

These are American statistics, but presuming that overall none of these have some sort of strong cultural cause, they should be representative of the norm of humanity. Now, let's get the raw number estimate out of this. What we're going to need to do is multiply 8,000,000,000 by 0.016, 0.015, 0.0114, 0.011 respectively.

128,000,000

120,000,000

91,200,000

88,000,000

So, this a rough estimate for the number of people in each category respectively. Bit bigger than you might assume when you hear "approximately 1%", right? When you hear "approximately 1%", you're liable to think something is super rare. And in proportion, yeah, sure.

But plot twist, I'm discussing misinformation and bad propaganda. Did you know the internet allows disparate groups of small populations to connect and form larger communities than was ever possible offline due to how irl populations are distributed? Now, imagine a community of just 25% of trans people. Using the prior information, you can do this calculation yourself.

Done it? Did you get 22,800,000 people? Good job. If not, the calculation should have been 91,200,000 x 0.25. Now, imagine a community online of 22,800,000 people. That's a pretty damn big community online, right?

And this here shows how false claims of the level of visibility of various groups online being the result of "fakers" and "trenders" is. Those claims rely on your inability to understand that even 1% of humanity is 80,000,000 people. You aren't seeing anywhere close to 80,000,000 different people posting about it. You aren't even seeing 1,000,000 people posting about it. You are seeing a tiny fraction of a tiny fraction of humanity posting about it. Social media just enables that itty bitty bit to find each other and interact.

[purposeastro]

High Sex Drive| Vedic Astrology ( 18 + )

These Combinations and Aspects indicates a Higher Sexual Drive in a Person

If your Mars is in 1st 5th , 7th, 8th and 12th house aspected by Venus or in Venus Nakshatra then it gives native a very high sexual drive.

GEMINI MARS and SCORPIO MARS especially have higher sex drive.

GEMINI MARS aspected by Venus will get attracted to multiple partners and different types of sexual activities.

SCORPIO MARS is more on the hidden side deep and intense relationship with someone who noone knows.

MARS + VENUS in LIBRA and GEMINI shows Higher Sex Drive

RAHU + MARS in 5th House aspected by Venus

RAHU VENUS and MARS in 8th 7th or 12th houses can get agressive in sex and can harm themselves

This combination in 8th house with debilated planet can make the person into Rap*s, Extra Marital Affairs and Criminal activities.

MOON RAHU aspected by VENUS person will think about ssex sexual thoughts whole day. Involvement of Rahu will get into Porn. All the ONLY F@NS community and other things which are digital have Rahu energy in them.

VENUS SUN RAHU clearly shows extra marital and are mostly in prostitution and they can earn money alot due to VENUS SUN combination and rahu is online so through media.

Afflicted PISCES VENUS can make a person have higher sexual drive and more into these activities.

100 drops of blood = 1 drop of semen

1 drop of semen = 500 million to 700 million sperms and this is the nutrition for your brain as well.

Excessive masturbation can cause hair thinning, fuzzy vision and other issues as you're loosing your brains nutrition.

I'm doing Vedic Readings. Please Donate 👇👇👇🙏🙏

Radhey Radhey 🪷🪷🪔🪔🪷🪷

[anim-ttrpgs]

"Arithmomaniac," investigator Trait from Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy. Every investigator has 3 to 6 Traits!

[rourkie]

"America is not the greatest country in the world."

This aired on HBO 12 years ago. I think these words are more important than ever as we move forward into future as a divided nation.

Here are the things that *truly* would make us great again.

[floralfractals]

so id say my tumblr network (as in, the people who tend to see/interact with my posts) is pretty mathy. i wanted to see how people interact w math and how they like to learn about it :) (and: maybe do something with that on my blog!!! wouldnt that be fun)

polls have a limited amount of characters i can add per option, so ill clarify some concepts here:

informal education is learning via a coordinated effort by an instance/expert outside of school system (e.g. voluntary lectures, social media posts, museum visits, youtube videos or similar). by informal i dont mean "its school but the teacher is chill" or independent research!!

formal education is learning through a school system (usually mandatory/with a teacher or professor present)

i refer to any education you do without making use of coordinated programmes as independent research, so that would be just you picking up an advanced math book to educate yourself, or perhaps scanning wikipedia, or emailing math profs with questions

when i talk about reading math in a general context, i mean that the material discusses math for a broad audience, so it doesnt talk about super niche specific mathematical concepts, and doesn't contain any complicated formulas/proofs/math speech

please do elaborate in the tags!!!

[graham-tails]

Tiktok is gone. I’m going back to my roots.

[xyymath]

The Math of Social Networks: How Social Media Algorithms Work

In the digital age, social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are fueled by complex mathematical algorithms that determine what you see in your feed, who you follow, and what content "goes viral." These algorithms rely heavily on graph theory, matrix operations, and probabilistic models to connect billions of users, influencers, and posts in increasingly intricate webs of relationships.

Graph Theory: The Backbone of Social Networks

Social media platforms can be visualized as graphs, where each user is a node and each connection (whether it’s a "follow," "like," or "comment") is an edge. The structure of these graphs is far from random. In fact, they follow certain mathematical properties that can be analyzed using graph theory.

For example, cliques (a subset of users where everyone is connected to each other) are common in influencer networks. These clusters of interconnected users help drive trends by amplifying each other’s content. The degree of a node (a user’s number of direct connections) is a key factor in visibility, influencing how posts spread across the platform.

Additionally, the famous Six Degrees of Separation theory, which posits that any two people are connected by no more than six intermediaries, can be modeled using small-world networks. In these networks, most users are not directly connected to each other, but the distance between any two users (in terms of number of connections) is surprisingly short. This is the mathematical magic behind viral content, as a post can be shared through a small network of highly connected individuals and reach millions of users.

Matrix Operations: Modeling Connections and Relevance

When social media platforms recommend posts, they often rely on matrix operations to model relationships between users and content. This process can be broken down into several steps:

User-Content Matrix: A matrix is created where each row represents a user and each column represents a piece of content (post, video, etc.). Each cell in this matrix could hold values indicating the user’s interactions with the content (e.g., likes, comments, shares).

Matrix Factorization: To make recommendations, platforms use matrix factorization techniques such as singular value decomposition (SVD). This helps reduce the complexity of the data by identifying latent factors that explain user preferences, enabling platforms to predict what content a user is likely to engage with next.

Personalization: This factorization results in a model that can predict a user’s preferences even for content they’ve never seen before, creating a personalized feed. The goal is to minimize the error matrix, where the predicted interactions match the actual interactions as closely as possible.

Influence and Virality: The Power of Centrality and Weighted Graphs

Not all users are equal when it comes to influencing the network. The concept of centrality measures the importance of a node within a graph, and in social media, this directly correlates with a user’s ability to shape trends and drive engagement. Common types of centrality include:

Degree centrality: Simply the number of direct connections a user has. Highly connected users (like influencers) are often at the core of viral content propagation.

Betweenness centrality: This measures how often a user acts as a bridge along the shortest path between two other users. A user with high betweenness centrality can facilitate the spread of information across different parts of the network.

Eigenvector centrality: A more sophisticated measure that not only considers the number of connections but also the quality of those connections. A user with high eigenvector centrality is well-connected to other important users, enhancing their influence.

Algorithms and Machine Learning: Predicting What You See

The most sophisticated social media platforms integrate machine learning algorithms to predict which posts will generate the most engagement. These models are often trained on vast amounts of user data (likes, shares, comments, time spent on content, etc.) to determine the factors that influence user interaction.

The ranking algorithms take these factors into account to assign each post a “score” based on its predicted engagement. For example:

Collaborative Filtering: This technique relies on past interactions to predict future preferences, where the behavior of similar users is used to recommend content.

Content-Based Filtering: This involves analyzing the content itself, such as keywords, images, or video length, to recommend similar content to users.

Hybrid Methods: These combine collaborative filtering and content-based filtering to improve accuracy.

Ethics and the Filter Bubble

While the mathematical models behind social media algorithms are powerful, they also come with ethical considerations. Filter bubbles, where users are only exposed to content they agree with or are already familiar with, can be created due to biased algorithms. This can limit exposure to diverse perspectives and create echo chambers, reinforcing existing beliefs rather than fostering healthy debate.

Furthermore, algorithmic fairness and the prevention of algorithmic bias are growing areas of research, as biased recommendations can disproportionately affect marginalized groups. For instance, if an algorithm is trained on biased data (say, excluding certain demographics), it can unfairly influence the content shown to users.

[cyanophen]

giantleongiantleongiantleon-

[divinit3a]

[study-diaries]

Math Tips

(Pictures are not mine)

Well, let me tell you, we all have this love-hate relationship with this subject, right? The worst part is that when you don't know what the heck is going on, so, as a girl who studied maths (2 Volumes/textbooks) on her own during the year she was homeschooled, here are some tips and tricks that I did to get an A+ in my math finals!

Get your syllabus together

In the beginning I had no damn idea what was going on and it was just confusing. I had to do the first thing I did was taken my index/table of contents and mark the chapters which i knew very well and the ones I had no clue about. And then i arranged them with the marking scheme, like which one carries the most marks etc etc and study accordingly.

Complete lessons/chapters that you already know

When you finish off the things you already know then that's gonna give you the confidence you need even if you know only 1-2 chapters, learn it throughout and make sure that you'll get the answer no matter how twisted the sum is. If you're doubtful about the whole textbook like any normal person.... Start with the easy ones. (I know there are literally really no "easy" chapters, spare me)

Harder chapters need hard work

Most chapters like Trigonometry proofs, Geometry proofs, Algebra, Graphs, Mensuration and Calculus etc need more than minimum effort but here's a trick, what is the common thing in this? Yes, they're all formulae and theorem based which goes to my next point. These chapters are completely based on how much you've understood your basics.

Formulae and theorem cheatsheets

Make a list of all formulae and the theorem used in the book, write them chapter wise and no printouts or digital notes. Take a paper and write it down, no excuses. It helps you while you're practicing, revising and in the last minute review, it helped me damn much. Remember, maths is a sport. The basic formulae must come to you like reflexes.

YouTube is your best friend.

For every single chapter, go and watch the basics and how a sum is done step by step. A recommendation for this is Organic Chemistry Tutor who literally is one of the reasons i passed. He has videos from basic geometry, trigonometry, statistics to calculus. Search for your own YouTubers and be clear with concepts.

Math is fully memorization

Memorize formulae and theorems with the back of your hand, you should be able to recall them within seconds. Be thorough.

Memorize basic math values (if calculator isn't allowed)

Do this if you have a majority of chapters like Statistics, Mensuration, Profit/loss calculation etc, where large numbers are concerned. Memorize the first 10 square, cube, decimal and multiplication values. It may be dry but there are literally songs available for these things, I'm serious, i learnt the first 10 cube roots by listening to Senorita xD Search for rhymes and they'll definitely be many!!

Work it out!!!!!!

Can't stress this enough, atleast 30-40 mins is the minimum for maths. I'm serious, work out each sum, don't ever think it's a waste, you'll see the results. Practice makes perfect. Work out every single sum, from examples to exercise ones cause let's be honest, our examiners love to take problems from every nook and cranny of the book.

Whiteboard method

So, I made this up and it actually works, if you have a whiteboard or anything else, once you completed a chapter, take a random page and whatever sums you have on those two pages, you need to complete within a given time limit. It helps you to identify your weak points and where the hell you're losing both time and effort and not to mention that it gives you confidence boost up.

Hope this helps :))

[purposeastro]

7th house Secrets Vedic Astrology Part 2

7th Lord in 1st House

The person will get changed after marriage. 7th house is the house of perception in Vedic astrology. How you look outwardly and how people see you. Your public image. So the person will change according to people. The person will not think about how they're feeling they'll think about how the public is feeling after seeing them. So here the spouse will help to make you good or make you worse. For this you need to check many factors in the birth chart. Spouse will be DOMINATING. As 7th Lord your spouse is in 1st house which is your own house so you may lose your own personality with this. The person may start fearing public or spouse to make changes and adjust. The person get support from the spouse family, will see gains in money and personality development after Marriage.

7th Lord in 2nd House

The 2nd house in Vedic Astrology is related to Food therefore after marriage the person will have major food habit changes, the person will gain resources, If that's a malefic planet then maybe the person will get smoke habits from spouse even the the person doesn't smoke in their life but from spouse influence the person will start doing smoking, alcohol, etc. The person will definitely get rich after marriage but there'll be not so good relationship with in laws and fights can happen.

7th Lord in 3rd House

The 3rd house in Vedic astrology is your inner self it shows your deepest darkest fantasies. The people who goes against the norms our LGBTQ community peeps 👋💕 This is the combination in most of the LGBTQ community and they go against the norms by liking and doing things for the people of Same gender, etc. They can even changed their own religion ( if any ) for their spouse. Their behaviour changes after marriage. This is also an indication of Divorce if there's no good aspect here. So marry after getting your subconscious mind cleared and your subconscious, religion, etc. should match with the other persons otherwise chances of divorce will get stronger.

7th Lord in 4th house

The spouse will be very nurturing, caring. The person's basic values will change after marriage. The career will rise will get alot of money and property. The spouse will have huge impact on the person's karma and future upbringing by imbibing good values to you. You'll have to unlearn and learn things from your spouse. The person location may change or have to change the vaastu of the house. Again any malefic aspects can make the things bad and can lead to divorce.

7th Lord in 5th House

The 5th house in Vedic astrology is your (purva punya) Past life good karmas and now you're connected to your past life therefore you'll have less freewill. But this indicates love marriage as you are now connected to your past life karmas.

7th Lord in 6th house

The 6th house in Vedic Astrology is of Disease, Debts and Enemies therefore this too is not considered good combination but if this combination is in positive then the spouse will help to take you out from all these things which denotes the 6th house. But after marriage Disease, Debt and Enemies will increase so it's not so good Remedies are required.

7th Lord in 7th house

The 7th Lord in 7th house looks and sounds so good but in reality it's a negative Placement. The spouse will be strong, dominating and the spouse family will have better condition from the person's own family conditions. The person will get status and their life will start to change but the spouse will be so dominating that the person might not be able to endure their dominance which can start ego clashes and fighting. You'll feel powerful cause of your spouse and their status. The spouse will be better looking than the person or native, better working position, more money than the native.

7th lord in 8th house

The 8th house is the house of suddenness in Vedic astrology therefore spouse may suddenly get into health problems with this placement. The person may suddenly get into financial issues due to this and the person themselves can suddenly get sick. So if this is in positive then the person will suddenly get money 💰 So this is mixed combination as you can see. The spouse family will be stronger and wealthy and may help the person out when this combination is positive if negative the person may get into disputes with in laws. This can also creates No marriage or Sanyaas to the person. Remedies are needed.

7th Lord in 10th House

The spouse may be in your office, or have same career field, or on your floor where you are working. Good for Office Romance 💒 The person and the spouse will have Same mindset and similarities and will have work life balance. You can do partnership businesses with your spouse. You may fight with your spouse due to competitiveness so the ego will create fights.

NOTE : Please don't feel depressed or Sad as there are many things to take into account and no placement is bad placement NOT GOOD doesn't mean BAD. Your Birth Chart is just a GUIDE MAP and you can still choose whatever path you want with your willpower and GOOD KARMA guys always remember AHAM BRAHMASMI 🥹 I'M DIVINE OKAY! :) 🫶

I'm doing Vedic Readings. Please Donate 👇👇👇🙏🙏

Radhey Radhey 🪷🪷🪷🪔🪔

[catscomputerscreativewriting]

I need to start a collection of "math things that really, really sound like wizard and/or cleric things."