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Post by Baron von Lotsov on Jan 21, 2024 2:03:21 GMT
This starts off really simple.
step 1: pick a number step 2: if it is odd then multiply by three and subtract one. step 3: if it is even then divide by two step 4: repeat
What happens if you do this many times?
Well the conjecture says you will eventually reach one. This is true whatever number you pick, or at least it has been empirically verified up to very high numbers, but no one so far has been able to prove it. Not only this, but the behaviour of this algorithm has some highly weird properties. In fact it generates complex patterns similar to Wolfram's cellular automata. Anyway, this guy has bee playing around with the properties and gives a talk on the history of it.
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Post by Orac on Jan 21, 2024 8:38:08 GMT
Ive seen this problem before.
I laughed when the tag system that embedded the problem had a number of rules that made it 'unresolved' as well
Funny how your brain links things together. I have watched a bit philosophical musing recently and it seems to me that problems like this are an excellent way to illustrate the difference between determinism and predictability
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Post by Baron von Lotsov on Jan 21, 2024 17:52:21 GMT
Ive seen this problem before. I laughed when the tag system that embedded the problem had a number of rules that made it 'unresolved' as well Funny how your brain links things together. I have watched a bit philosophical musing recently and it seems to me that problems like this are an excellent way to illustrate the difference between determinism and predictability Yes and there is similar weirdness in the prime numbers and another unsolved conjecture - see Riemann hypothesis.
It's interesting what he says about mathematicians. To a mathematician, the meaning of an application is something that helps to solve another mathematical problem.
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