Finding the Inverse of Cabin Function

[polyb]

\int (cabin)^{-1} = ?

 

[motai]

hahaha, funny answer.. oh.. almost forgot the plus C. Oh, shouldn't it be \int(cabin)^{-1} dcabin?

 

[polyb]

It doesn't really matter. I borrowed this from Thomas Pynchon's 'Gravity's Rainbow' where he was discussing the graffiti on bathroom walls written by renegade mathematicians. I finally got around to sharing it with some people who would get the joke!

 

[narblecinder]

alright, so I am retarded. What exactly is the joke? I think I get the punchline, but I just can't seem to put everything together so that it makes sense.

 

[whozum]

The answer is ln(wood) or something cheesy like that.

 

[Galileo]

Probably log cabin.

 

[narblecinder]

Perhaps I am thinking of this as a "real" joke where one needs both a setup that makes sense and a punchline.

the answer is of course ln(cabin)+C which is "the natural log cabin plus C(sea?/see?)". What I do not get is the question "the indefinate integral of cabin to the negative first" or "the indefinate integral of one over cabin".

What I am asking is if there is suppose to be a certain way to read the equation so that it makes more sense.

 

[minger]

I think you're overanalyzing it narble. It's a quick easy funny joke. I always though x^-1 = 1/x anyways...

Either way, post some more out of the book please!

 

[whozum]

cabin^{-1} = \frac{1}{cabin}

 

[T@P]

this is a similar type of math joke, but it has nothing to do with integrals.

Q: what happens when you try to cross a fly with a mountain climber?

hint: its amazingly corny

 

[BicycleTree]

Hint on T@P's joke: You'll never, ever get it.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

fly mountain climber sin theta

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

\int(cabin)^{-1} dcabin = log \ cabin + C = houseboat

 

[BicycleTree]

That's great!

 

[t!m]

Something about a scalar? Thats my best guess for the mountain climber one.

 

[BicycleTree]

Yeah, something about a scalar. You'll never get it though.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

t!m, thanks for the hint.


Taken from the OED:
vector 3. a. Med. and Biol. A person, animal, or plant
which carries a pathogenic agent and acts as a potential source
of infection for members of another species.

You can't cross a vector with a scaler (scalar)

EOM