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They didn’t even round to the closet decimal. 3.1 is closer to pi than 3.2.
They had no idea they couldn't legislate math and force it to obey. You are crediting them with an overabundance of brain function in relation to what evidence suggests.
they couldn’t legislate math and force it to obey
They can legislate education and enforce the curriculum through hiring of staff and purchasing of educational material. That said, this isn't what was at issue with the legislation.
You are crediting them with an overabundance of brain function
In my personal experience as a kid who took Calculus and Physics, we were never really expected to use more precision than 3.14 for grading purposes.
Unless you're getting into a professional degree of engineering or foundational mathematics, there's no notable utility in establishing Pi past the first decimal or three.
If you get into the actual meat of the article
In 1894 physician and mathematical dabbler Edward J. Goodwin believed he had found one. He felt so proud of his discovery that, in 1897, he drew up a bill for his home state of Indiana to enshrine what he thought was a mathematical proof into law. In exchange, he would allow the state to use his proof without paying royalties. At least three major red flags should have prompted lawmakers to regard Goodwin with skepticism. Math research has no norm about charging royalties or precedent for legally ratifying theorems, and the supposed proof was nonsense. Among other errors, it claimed that pi, the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, is 3.2 rather than the well-established 3.14159.... Yet, in a bizarre legislative oversight, the Indiana House of Representatives passed the bill in a unanimous vote.
This is incredibly dated news and largely a commentary on how easily a state legislature will rubber stamp a bill without reading the fine print.
My first thought as well
All the numbers after the 3.1 I bet they thought it made it bigger
Well, there are a lot of them...
...uh oh
Was a lot of them
Because it was a mistake in a proof, not legislation aimed to change pi
This kind of anti-scientific bullshit could only happen in the U.S.A.
It was the late 1800’s. Dumb shit wasn’t in short supply in the world.
Problem is, I could also see Trump’s WWE education secretary pushing for this in 2026.
The fact that it is 100% plausible today is the worrying part.
Yes I was fully expecting the details to be "It was a Republican-sponsored bill in 1992" or similar. It's just too damn believable.
Reject π! Embrace τ! The superior constant!
How the hell you make that
Probably with their pie cutter.
Upsetting...
if you make a π but then don't do the | then you get τ
Copy and pasted from the Tau page on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tau_(mathematics)
I was expecting mechs and fish people.
My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.
If you use heliboard it's in alternative symbols.
Godless heathens!
Pi is exactly 3, God said so in the Bible (1 Kings 7:23)
Pretty close though eh, one or two cubits off, ~96% accurate. Just like the rest of the bible, right?
Assuming we are talking about historical accuracy and not theological accuracy (whatever that is), I’m not sure how low the number is, but it’s certainly less than half of 96%, especially the Old Testament
I can sort of answer this for you. The process of writing the old testament started in 537BCE and the end of the Babylonnian exile.
This is when Monotheism entered the story as well.
Anything before Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon is suspicious, and anything before Solomon is fully made up.
Agreed re: Solomon. My sense is that a lot of it was compiled during Josiah’s reign but my knowledge of the topic is sparse. Are you familiar with the theory that the David story is post hoc propaganda after David Coup’d Saul, and the David & Bathsheba story was fabricated as propaganda to legitimize Solomon after he coup’d David?
I’m certainly over simplifying.
I mostly came across it all from studying Cyrus the Great, the King of Kings, and then focused on the exile, or captivity or however you want to call it.
The Neo-Babylonians started conquering Judah in about 600BCE, they burned Jerusalem, and destroyed Solomon's Temple in 587.
The Babylonians were pretty thorough in destroying any religious icons or texts of their new slaves, which included priests and nobles who knew how to read, which was useful to the Babylonians.
This is how Babylonian creation myths ended up making cameos in the new Hebrew bible written from scraps and invention after Cyrus freed the slaves of Babylon as a kind of last fuck you to the city as he declared himself King of Babylon. (or a way to make said slaves love him)
I’m really interested in studying Cyrus the Great, I just got distracted by biblical history as a fixation.
Random Cyrus-related fact: David Koresh of the Waco Branch Davidians changed his last name from Howell to Koresh which is the biblical name for Cyrus.
if they repeal the laws of gravity i would consider visiting
This is perfectly on brand
Its an interesting story but a bit misrepresented. Here's how the post title is misrepresenting the story but it misses lots of the details:
Here’s the problem that has consumed ancient Greek mathematicians and countless others: given a circle, construct a square with the same area as it using only a compass and straightedge.
In 1894 physician and mathematical dabbler Edward J. Goodwin believed he had found [a proof]
he would allow the state to use his proof without paying royalties
The proof made a mistake that set the value of pi to 3.2
The article points out it was an odd piece of legislation because royalties aren't charged for proofs but doesn't really make clear what this proof was going to be used for. Just:
they seemed confused about the bill’s contents and played hot potato with it, tossing it to the Committee on Canals, which flung it over to the Committee on Education. They held three formal readings of the bill before voting
I need a shower after that headline
Yeah, fuck maths!
Everything went well until they tried adding the dome to the Indiana Statehouse.
This kind of people are making laws about technology, something they don't understand at all, just like π.
On the same scientific level as the age verification inside the OS...
This is why you don't gut the educational system.
Math is math...
Engineer approved.
engineer here, i just type PI() and the computer decides what that means
We have an article about this as well on Wikipedia that looks like it could use a little improving. The bill itself was titled:
A Bill for an act introducing a new mathematical truth and offered as a contribution to education to be used only by the State of Indiana free of cost by paying any royalties whatever on the same, provided it is accepted and adopted by the official action of the Legislature of 1897
It doesnt go too far enough. Lets make it just 3.
"Actually, ya know what-- ALL numbers are too complicated. From now on, ALL numbers will be replaced by 1."
