savetheearth

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[ handwritten – it seems this was written he had not yet realized what the use behind the numbers is yet. there is a whole mess of numbers that have no particular pattern across the top of the page. to those who are number savvy, they might realize that they are all prime numbers.

notes follow below: ]

I thought about a certain number for a long time, looking for patterns. Trying to see if there was some reason behind them. I thought that it might be encrypted, so I tried a few basic ciphers, but it’s too short to be able to crack so easily. Cryptography is not my area of expertise anyway.

The prime decomposition was lovely. But also meaningless. Some people see God in the numbers. Perhaps this is meant to be my awakening? When I thought of this number, I also remembered something strange. That I claimed to be a king.

Most likely, I’m just overthinking it.

Sometimes a number is just a number.

[ there is a space, and then it’s followed by a few lines which are clearly lecture notes for a class. he does not write any more about the number code.

only later does he later connect to the network with video. should anybody wish to respond to the first part, he'll only do so after this video. he doesn't look particularly nervous, but he does speakveryfast -- at times, it might be hard to make out a few of the words. ]

I tried to read as much as I could about what this network is all about beforehand, so I think I understand things, more or less. But I'd like to know, for people who have remembered things -- if you remembered a person, have you ever met that person here in Locke City afterwards? ... Did you feel certain that the memory was yours?

I'm not sure how to phrase this. But what I remembered is something that couldn't possibly be true, yet I felt that it must have been the truth. And I'd like to know if that's normal or not.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, it's normal for us. Welcome to Wonderland, or the Numbers club.

[ he'll switch to text to reply: ]

Numbers? That's something of my expertise, actually.

Although judging from context, I don't think it's meant in that way!

Numbers as in what you used to log in to here.

Don't tell me you're some kind of math geek.

That's what I thought.

... A math professor, actually.

[ if he had a dollar for every time he heard geek, though.... ]

Please tell me not at the high school.

[[Else his plans for ignoring class and just chatting on the network for next year were going to be ruined]]

At the university.

... You're a high school student, then.

Yeah. So unless you're at Locke U, you won't have to deal with me.

And likely won't have to anyway.

[[unless he teaches remedial math. Then he might have to in a few years.]]

I am.

... Not a fan of the subject, I take it?
It's not very popular with most students right now.

Not a fan of busywork and that's 90% what math is.

[[...that and he's just not good at it.]]

That's more the result of poor teaching and a bad curriculum, I'd say... It really is a shame. By the time I meet students, it's so hard to change their minds.

Not that you have to, of course.

I have a friend who keeps trying to change mine and if she hasn't had any luck yet, don't think you'll have much better~

Well, first impressions are hard to overturn. I suppose if I had to make a case, it would be that numbers... they're universal. There's hardly a subject in the world where you can't find numbers.

I do wish your friend luck, though.

They're no more universal than language. In fact, they're less, because numbers can only count and language can describe.

You don't pass on ancient histories with numbers.

Numbers can't describe...? That's being rather unfair, I'd say. They just describe things in ways that people are not used to understanding.

No?
Much of Greek history has been passed on through their studies into mathematics.

Not really, just the culture around their math. That's the culture of what, a handful of guys? The more important histories are passed on through art and stories.

If you don't like math, I think you would be inclined to underestimate exactly how intertwined math and history is in the first place. Or any other subject, for that matter.

Although, I suppose people are allowed to believe what they like. I like what I like enough that I wouldn't let people change my mind about it. If you dislike it so much that you wouldn't let others change your mind about it, then there's nothing to be done about that, right? Let alone by some stranger you've only talked to briefly.

...you give up way too easily.

I take refuge in the fact that I know I'm objectively correct.

[ he's only half-kidding about that... ]

So you tell yourself you're right so you don't have to argue anything? That's pretty lame, gotta say.

If you'd like to provoke an argument out of me, I suggest a different subject. It would be a bit pointless to tell somebody who has a Ph.D. in the subject that their area of study is "boring" or "not useful".

How about your opinion on the morality of zoos?

Which wasn't even what I was on about but hey, whatever. You're the one who's been in school forever.

... I just said that you wouldn't be able to provoke an argument out of me, didn't I?

There's a difference between not arguing and putting words in the other guy's mouth to sound like he said something utterly different to dismiss them as being beneath you so you can sound like you're being the bigger man by not arguing.

You're doing the second. Which is a real dickhead thing to do.

I said from the very beginning that I didn't think you had to change your mind. If that wasn't an indication that I wasn't interested in an argument, then I don't know what to say.

If you ask me, what you're doing is missing the forest for the trees.

And what you're doing is being an asshole.

Let me try this again. I don't care about arguing or not arguing, I'm kinda pissed that you just rolled up everything I said as "math is stupid" when I didn't say a damned thing even close to it and you just blow off everything to say you're not going to argue.

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[Text] Sorry about this, he has issues. ^^;;;