What is your field/career?

[darrelljs]

suboptimal, I never thought to meet a food or beverage flavorist. What an unusual and interesting occupation. Have soft drinks lost their fizz for you yet?

No, not yet.  You'd be surprised at how many different tasting orange and grape sodas are out there, though.

So is the World of Coke "Taste It" section in Atlanta your mecca ?  That bitter one from Italy is pretty nasty...

Darrell

[darrelljs]

1. Pursuing a bachelor's in economics.

So what's next? When robotics, AI and automation make labor unnecessary, what happens?

Darrell

[Krill]

suboptimal, I never thought to meet a food or beverage flavorist. What an unusual and interesting occupation. Have soft drinks lost their fizz for you yet?

No, not yet.  You'd be surprised at how many different tasting orange and grape sodas are out there, though.

So is the World of Coke "Taste It" section in Atlanta your mecca ?  That bitter one from Italy is pretty nasty...

Darrell

Just got back from there. Goddamn isn't that truth.

Flavourists have a lot to answer for in this world.

[Coeurva]

After reading Couerva's post, I'm starting to believe the bathroom inscription.

About the novel I'm writing, it's a coming of age story about a boy that changes schools. It's very realist in nature, and it's written in third person narration, as opposed to first person, which I think most coming of age stories are. I've been working on it for about 5 years, but not in a consecutive or properly organized manner.

I would love to share the bits I have ready, but it's all in portuguese.

I used to be a humanities major in an absurdly arcane combination of fields (one of my professors labeled it a "bijou subject"), and I doubt that regurgitating Hilbert's Hotel proves anyone smarter than studying law; I think it's a beautiful example of a mathematical proof with surprising results, which has the advantage of not requiring much of a knowledge of maths -- just an interest in it -- to understand and appreciate it. I assume that's why Adrien brought it up, too. By contrast, I once calculated zeta(2) and was unreasonably proud of myself (using a Fourier transform and the Parseval equation), in a proof that I also found beautiful -- but nobody who chose e.g. law or archaeology instead, Fermat included, could fully grasp all the necessary prerequisites in an evening. It's less about capacity than experience. For the record, I'm convinced that I'm a piss-poor mathematician, much as I like the subject; thus I study computer things -- which might not be a stringent argument at all

In all seriousness, if you're considering to return to university for computer things, I'm sure you'll encounter the above early in the first semester.

I can hardly read Portuguese beyond simple texts, but I'd like to improve, and would give it a try.

[Krill]

1) B.Sc in Chemistry, and another in a healthcare field (plus mandatory professional registration).

2) Not attending lectures in the latter and being a prized pain in the arse in the former.

3) Healthcare field in a community (not in a hospital) setting.

4) Most people who work in healthcare are technologically illiterate; so am I, but to a lightly lesser extent than everyone else including senior management. So I use this to make it look like I'm doing work because I'm the only person whom understands the workload tools. Does this count?

5) In the past I have worked as a healthcare support worker and working with people with learning disabilities in secure settings. I've had the pleasure of lying in restraint for hours with people that have then proceeded to piss shit, spit and (try to) vomit over my and teammates because they didn't get what they wanted.

6) What is your name, address, and credit card PIN?

[Dark Savant]

If anyone cares besides those who obviously already know it -- here's the proof of that as "classically" taught since Cantor, and whose amusing paraphrase was first devised by Hilbert in his excellent headwear. First off, the definitions we need:
[...]

I'm sure you know this, but this can be extended to any integral root of any rational number, etc.

Actually ... do circle-squarers still exist?  I know they did a few decades ago -- serious mathematicians would still get crank mail from them.  I haven't heard of any whatsoever existing lately, even on the fringes of society.  That may be because they've all taken up 0.999.... != 1; I don't know.  

(How this is related: "Circle-squarer" means someone who claims "you can construct a square with the same area as a circle, with just straightedge and compass, in a finite number of steps".  This was an unresolved problem for thousands of years, and was finally actually proven impossible in the late 19th century.  If it were possible, it would mean that pi would also be among the countable numbers.)

[Coeurva]

They still exist, although the lack of angle trisectors is to be lamented.

EDIT: On second consideration, link to example removed. (Which originated from a discussion with a friend about the appeal of homeopathy, and what separates science from superstition.)

Although I'm not sure whether this is a "real" crank or merely a cynical fraud who intentionally chose something absurd to propagate as "the truth they don't want us to know". The "area under the curve" stuff should be particularly amusing. (Essentially, he proves that pi = 3.1446, or something like that, in a geometric proof. By squaring the circle.)

As a bonus: this is of course accompanied by the other perennial favourite marketing ploy of false shamans, the "sectio aurea", as well as the staunch belief that every truth in mathematics that counts can be expressed with lines drawn in the sand.

Actually, a fun little property of this number that I've never used fruitfully is that phi = sum (n=1 to infty) 1/phi^n

You can infer that the circle cannot be squared because pi is transcendental; this has nothing to do with it being an irrational number, though, as e.g. sqrt(2) is algebraic. As is phi, for that matter.

EDIT: To add something more personal, I think that the inaccurate use of words like "frequency" or "energy" must always be met with suspicion.

[Bacchus]

1) BSc Economics and Government, MSc Comparative Politics (this means everything and nothing, I did political economy)
2) My primary interest was in the formation of the modern state, and its institutional impact on society, primarily on society -- I concurrently read institutional economics courses and nationalism studies courses, which hilariously do not speak to each other at all. I did my thesis on something entirely different -- the process of institutionalization of purely instrumental political creations into a real political force, using Russia's dominant party and its influence over the budget as a case study.
3) The field I work in is narrow enough that I would be too readily identifiable. It's corporate, I did not go on to do a PhD.
4) ...
5) I was briefly placed on the trading desk of one of five leading platinum producers, who dial in for a call at noon GMT to set the price of the metal. Clients of those companies get a chance to trade in this fixing window. It's very similar to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_fixing, but platinum and arguably less cool. My "job", befitting a 17 year old, was to listen in to the fix and report to a subset of clients.
6) What is your name, address, and credit card PIN?

[Mardoc]

1) What degrees and diplomas do you have?
- B.S and M.S. Chemical Engineering

2) Is there anything of note you specialized in during your education?
- Civilization 4 and the Fall from Heaven mod

3) What is your current job and/or your career?
I design new chemical plants, and changes and safety equipment for old ones.

4) Is there anything of note you specialize in at your job?
Haven't had to specialize too much yet, but it's looking like I'll be a biofuel expert in a few years.

5) Are there any past jobs you've done that are of interest?
I help my in-laws run a stand at a flea market occasionally.  Flea market customers are amazing.  Put out a $50 plate for fifty cents, and they'll bargain you down to a quarter, or walk away if you hold firm.  Put out your trash with a 'free' sign and it'll disappear before you turn around.

6) What is your name, address, and credit card PIN?
- Jenny, 867-5309

[MJW (ya that one)]

MJW, mm, plutonium, yes, I understand.

It's nothing that special; you'd just be able to track me down with a little common sense.