Sunday, October 21, 2007

I am the story of "i"

Back in school, my maths teacher revealed 'i' to me. "i", he said,"is the square root of -1". For a moment, I thought, everything I learnt does not make sense anymore. I was lost. For past so many yrs they were teaching me that square roots of negative numbers did not exist, and now all of a sudden, they gave a shock called "i". I refused to accept it and study it. I left complex algebra. Went for my exams without studying it....

9 yrs later, I realize that, though I did not study about "i", and I refused to accept its existence, it was all around me, all the time. The relevance of imaginary roots is all over the world. It's in my profession, it's in my entertainment, and of late I realize, it's in my thought process. I m handicapped without "i". All this weird thoughts of mine are due to this "i". I make a living because, unknowingly, I endorsed "i". And these thoughts take me to the conclusion that I am nothing but a subset of "i"

Since I did not study "i", I don't know all the mathematics attached to it, apart from the fact that it's imaginary. So I set out to make my own theory of "i". Well, it's hard to formulate a theory of all these random thoughts of mine. So I decided, I will illustrate the existence of "i" in my thought process.

KR was the first person, who made me realize the existence of "i" in me. I had come up with a punch line for my skype status. It read, "there are facts, and there are beliefs, it's dangerous when you start assuming your beliefs as facts ". He walked up to me and told me that everything is based on beliefs. Coming from him, I gave it a thought. He was right. At the base of every scientific theory, there is an assumption, which was never proved, just like "i". Till some time after that I was thinking that the "i" inside me is laughing at me and telling me that, finally I accepted its existence. It's just now that I realize that I am in "i" and not the other way round

Finally, I realize that, though "i" does not exist, it has relevance. So every now and then, when I come across some wonderful thoughts, or read some wonderful book or see any other masterpiece of human imagination, I comprehend the power of "i". Till now, I believed in God, now I also believe in "i"

11 comments:

Dhawal Kapadia said...

Most of you might think that, I came to a sudden halt. You are right. But the reason I stopped abruptly is, "i" is huge and fast, I was no longer able to keep up with it.

I will keep on posting comments here, as and when, I randomly match up with "i"

Samar Shah said...

Excellent thought dude! Here is a co-relation between Mathematics and Psychology. "i" was proposed to represent the imaginary component of root of -1. This is where the reality paused and human imagination came into picture. "i" represents imagination. And imagination starts where reality stops.

Dhawal Kapadia said...

Alay sent me this

well if you think that "i" is that much important then i think you just forgot something which made it important.
its the square or the squareroot that made its existance into reality, and so is the other 'i' that you are talking about.its the situation around you thats makes you (or here 'i') think you

like what you want to.
so i think its that square in your life that have made you believe in 'i'.
so what feel is that your 'i' is somewhere related to things around,as it is related somehow to square in complex numbers and as it was difficult to understand it thats why may be it was given the name as complex numbers.but the 'i' in me says that you are in search of that something that can be 'related' to your 'i' and thats where you have started thinking about that 'i'.
i don't know what i am thinking is correct or not but surely would like to know your comments on it.
and if you feel what i am saying does make sense then would just say best of luck to you and you know why i am wishing you best of luck
:)

Nirmesh said...

Some thoughts...

I think the base of all physical theories are not really beliefs but rather hypothesis which cannot be proved but CAN be disproved... I think this small point makes a world of a difference. All that theories tell us is that IF xyz is true THEN abc should be observable. Then, if abc is not observed the theory is definitely wrong... We accept theories that have, yet, not been proved wrong.

However, the situation is rather different with regard to mathematical theories. Here is no reality that it can relate... no place where observations can be tested to check whether the hypothesis are correct... It is just a set of if-then rules. In that sense, i has no existence except as a wonderful idea in someone's brain. However, it is when this idea can be used to make sense of some aspect of the world around us that it becomes popular.

Unknown said...

every real number has its imaginary part.. a + i * b if u apply fact + belief to this formula... number B represents amount of doubt u have...once you're absolutely firm about ur belief B becomes 0. i is the factor which will always make you question everything and nothing.

i'd say tht i is that insatiable itch in us which makes us post such blogs...

Richa Garg said...

ur blog is really worth praises !!! ....n ur fren Alay's comments are more awesome :D .....i agree with his thots abt ur 'i' :)

Gud luck from me too :) !!!!

Nishith said...

Fantastic blog man. The best part it being subset of "i". Your blog clearly represents the psychology behind "i". This world began with an imagination and still going on! Turning imagination to reality sounds like a mission to implement vision.

Great going..

dev said...

crux of the story.. 'i' is imaginary.. so am 'I' also.. 'I' am complex. and is required to make sense to absurd things.. better part with it.

Rajesh said...

Well dhawal i really don't agree with you on all your views. I do agree that there is relevance of "i" but that doesn't really mean that any masterpiece of work will be dependent on "i". It can be a mixture of your "i", your thinking and most importantly your creativity. There is "i" in science and in life and we need to mix our "i" with our real life to excel in life. remeber a complex number is not a complex one until unless there is a real number in it ;).
Anyway your thought was awesome which made me think abt my "i" too.. keep posting cool stuffs.. We love it..

Saumil said...

Let me also try to apply my psychological thoughts here.. :)
'i' : The word that has so much ego inside it..and 'i' always try to stay away from 'i' and always try to make it 'v'. its always easier to define 'v' than to explain 'i' and it only a group of many 'i' can make 'v'. but its time to say something about 'i', let me also try that. So many things about 'i' are the imaginations of others and lot many things about 'i' are reality but no one knows or no one wants to accept.. who cares about 'i' but still everyone cares about 'i'. 'i' don't know who am 'i' but 'i' always tries to find the real identity of 'i' by trying all the imaginations about 'i'.
Keep posting such blogs. Comments on thoughts are welcome. :)

Player said...

awesome blog man. I like the way u imagined the imaginary imaginative number i :P There are many things which our out of our understanding, things we cannot feel through all our five senses but assuming them to be true, it solves many of our problems.

Keep writing the blogs man. Your first blog is such a good one, i cant imagine how will be subsequent blogs.