From: Jim Choate <ravage@EINSTEIN.ssz.com>
Date: Sun, 19 Jan 1997 15:01:24 -0800 (PST)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: 'Monster' numbers
Message-ID: <199701192308.RAA00800@einstein>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text



Hi,

In reference to numbers which you can't describe, if you examine the work
they are ALL in the Complex domain, none of them are Real's.

Complex numbers deal with areas, not with lengths.

If there existed a Real for which we could not describe this would imply
that we could not draw a line of that length. Something which is clearly
contrary to the axiomatic assumptions of lines and their construction (ie
points have no dimension, only position, and lines are infinite sequences
of points).

A clear Complex example of a 'monster' is Sierpenski's Gasket. It fills an
area but has no measurable surface area.


                                                      Jim Choate
                                                      CyberTects
                                                      ravage@ssz.com