Is There a Derivative for Our Own Lives?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion explores the concept of applying mathematical derivatives to personal life experiences and growth. Participants engage in a playful examination of how calculus principles, particularly derivatives, might metaphorically relate to life, emotions, and personal development.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that deriving pleasure from life could be akin to finding a derivative, while others express that their lives are increasing exponentially, making the derivative irrelevant.
  • A few participants humorously propose that children could be viewed as derivatives of their parents, leading to discussions about the roles of parents as integrals.
  • There are mentions of the importance of regular functions in life, with some expressing a preference for discrete functions over continuous ones.
  • One participant raises the idea that if a derivative could significantly change one's functioning, it might be considered a controlled substance.
  • Some participants discuss the complexities of applying calculus to human behavior, noting that while calculus is logical, human behavior often appears illogical.
  • Feedback theory is introduced as a potentially more applicable framework to life than calculus, with references to specific literature on the subject.
  • Participants humorously reference mathematical concepts like slopes, with one suggesting that a negative slope indicates a poor life situation, while a positive slope indicates a good one.
  • There are playful warnings against "drinking and deriving," emphasizing the humorous nature of the discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views, with no consensus on the application of calculus to life. While some find the metaphorical application amusing and insightful, others challenge the practicality and logic of such comparisons.

Contextual Notes

Participants acknowledge the complexity of human behavior and the limitations of mathematical models in capturing the nuances of life experiences. There are unresolved discussions about the applicability of calculus versus feedback theory.

  • #31
This was not a troll question. It's only a General Discussion type question.

I'm sure anyone who has studied Calculus has at some point applied some of the principles to their own life, probably to relate to it and understand it better.

That's hardly controversial.
 
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  • #32
Oh there you are! Do forgive me, the question had the earmarks of a "set up" where the poster would come back and say something like "all aspects of life ultimately derive down to one constant, [deity]" Glad to see that's not the case. Though it was a good response thread...

Well then you deserve an honest answer to your question... ahem...

no. I find myself applying calculus principles all the time, but only to figure out quantifiable problems. The core of calculus requires that you know the functions, the proportionalities, of interacting variables. Although our biophysical responses in our brains could be ultimately described as functions, they'd be so complicated and inter-dependent with outside variables they'd be unpredictably chaotic. A simple task such as choosing a toothpaste would be described as the most complicated differential equation
Edward Witten has ever seen.
 
  • #33
But isn't the thread closed if it remains within its proper bounds?
 
  • #34
""I'm sure anyone who has studied Calculus has at some point applied some of the principles to their own life, probably to relate to it and understand it better. ""

Calculus is logical. Human behavior is illogical.

Life is lived forward but understood backward , so in that regard life is a feedback loop.

Math of feedback loops is its own field and i find feedback theory far more directly applicable to life than is calculus, though feedback is pretty intense in its use of calculus..

I recommend "Psychocybernetics" by Maxwell Maltz. It is a book that suggests applying feedback principles to everyday life.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0671700758/?tag=pfamazon01-20

Also TI's introduction to feedback,
http://www.ti.com/lit/ml/sloa077/sloa077.pdf

If A describes one's behavior
and B describes self examination and adjustment of behavior

feedback theory says the result is A / (1 + A*B) which will be normally smaller than A.

so when life is undergoing wild and crazy swings, i apply some introspection and feedback.


old jim
 
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  • #35
One math principle that might apply to life is the slope. If your life is going poorly, you have a negative slope. If your life is going well, you have a positive slope.
 
  • #36
mathscience said:
One math principle that might apply to life is the slope. If your life is going poorly, you have a negative slope. If your life is going well, you have a positive slope.

what's the function who's slope is happiness? Environmental conditions?
 
  • #37
what's the function who's slope is happiness?

kindness.
it transcends, for like ex it's the same as its derivative..


"Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind."
Eric Hoffer
 
  • #38
Please, no drinking and deriving.
 
  • #39
i toss and turn at night, because of Rolle's theorem.
 
  • #40
Saladsamurai said:
Please, no drinking and deriving.

You better not get a Randomized Breadth Test while you derive...
 
  • #41
Rolle rocks !
 
  • #42
Saladsamurai said:
Please, no drinking and deriving.
You could have a nasty accident. End up in L'Hôpital.
 
  • #43
If you want to buy some nice clothes, I heard the taylor has some new series.
 
  • #44
:smile:
 
  • #45
drizzle said:
:smile:

How dare you make a post in this thread without a math pun?? I'm going to have to infract you now.

Yes, I'm your average meanie.
 
  • #46
micromass said:
How dare you make a post in this thread without a math pun?? I'm going to have to infract you now.

Yes, I'm your average meanie.

We'll have to try harder to integrate her into PF society.
 
  • #47
:smile::cry::smile::smile:
 
  • #48
This thread is showing signs of regression. Makes me want to rise up and run away.
 
  • #49
lisab said:
This thread is showing signs of regression. Makes me want to rise up and run away.

Sines of regression??
 
  • #50
We're diverging from the original topic, I'm a-frayed.
 
  • #51
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  • #52
awesome
 
  • #53
Haha, funny. Though, I would like to know the rest of the story :p
 
  • #54
Tyrannysaurus fex ?
 
  • #55
drizzle said:
Haha, funny. Though, I would like to know the rest of the story :p

For what it's worth, \frac{\partial}{\partial x} (y^x) = y^x \ln(y).

Poor Mr. y^x would be pooped out a different size if y > 1 (although remain the same size in the special case where y = e), become mauled and eaten if y = 1, become negative and pooped out a different size if 0 < y < 1, or become complex if y < 0 (and who knows what that would be like).

[Edit: Deleted the whole y = 0 possibility. That doesn't even make any sense in the first place.]
 
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  • #56
:biggrin:
 

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