If I +1 this thread, does X=6? I'm confused.

You know, I've really been confused about this too, and I just want to take this opportunity to say that I think that algebra books are about the worst, least clearly written textbooks I have ever seen. WHY CAN'T THEY JUST FREAKING SAY WHAT X IS? It seems to me like they are always hiding the ball, going about things in convoluted ways, and, frankly, contradicting themselves. I don't have it anymore, so I can't give you a citation, but I swear my algebra book totally said x was 5 in one place, but then in another place, it said x was 8. How the heck do they expect people to learn or like math, if they don't even have it straight enough in their own heads to JUST SAY WHAT X IS?

Anyway, sorry to rant. This just really frustrates me.

semck, I actually completely agree with you and had the same frustration. And even if we were to allow for the (ridiculous) possibility that X (or x?) can change from place to place, if they would START with providing the value of X instead of hiding it in an equation to get it out again, that would save a lot of wasted ink.

I know redhouse! And I mean, at least on some of the places, you can look in the back, and they say what x is there. Call me crazy, but it seems like a much better way to teach would be to just tell you what x was in the main body of the text, like in every other book. I mean, look at a history book. It just comes right out and says Columbus discovered America in 1592. No need to flip to the back because it just said "Somebody did something this time, and it wasn't Italy, and it wasn't France, and it rhymes with Baperica." Unbelievable these people get paid for this.

"x" is an abstract representation of a number, you incompetent morons. Jesus fucking Christ I'm not even a math guy and I'm actually not bright, but I know math better than you people. You should all be ashamed of yourselves and report to your socialist work training in your posh government buildings downtown so you can pretend you care about the poor while you take everybody's money and roll it up for your fat cat salaries. Look at the awesome power of liberal indoctrination, oops, I mean higher education, in America. Why dont yuou become businessmen like me and make jobs for the economy. Im going to go smoke a bowl and have a beer and laugh at all of you fools as you whine and cry to me about your idealistic nonsense because Ive already muted all of you. Hahaha!

But that is the whole point! Algebra textbooks are deliberately confusing so that not only do you have to pay for the book, you have to hire a teacher. All a plan by education Inc. to suck money from society!

#occupyeducationindustrialcomplex

X can't be larger than 1, or 100% or lower than 0. However, x can have any value. So NO X does not equal 5.

@carpenter

i'm not so sure. i definitely remember one of my teachers saying clearly "x = 5" although i can't recall in what context. but now that i think about it, it does make sense. of course under roman numerals it would be ten... but we're talking arabic numerals here. i think if you're using arabic numerals, the x-axis usually goes up by 5's. so x does = 5 until you evaluate your function to the next step. but then the next step would be x2, so that would be 10. x0 = 0, of course, and x1=x=5. QED

X=10, you retards. 5 is V.

This thread has the highest concentration of win I've ever seen.

@semck - If your history book says Columbus discovered America in 1592, throw that book away. Not even getting into the argument of who actually discovered it, Columbus sailed the Atlantic in 1492.

Obvious troll is obvious.

Is SE = 64 ?

No. That was Apple II E. SE = 128!

According to my sources, SE is 243. S is 7 and E is 250 in early Roman.

if SE = 64, X = 5, SEX =64 x 5 = 320?

But maybe SE is actually Se, X is actually x, and somebody forgot the sign such that SEX is actually Se+x or Sex and Sex=69. See, mathematics *does* make sense.

Hahaha maybe Draugnar is right! If you look at it from that perspective, math does make sense!

Sorry for the computational error :( Draugnar is as always, correct in these matters as he is a world-class expert.

X is a variable, Variables replace numbers, so it can equal any number. Yes X=5 and any other number you can think of. End of this thread becuase its a copy of the other one.

What other one? I thought there was only one one. How can there be another one?

I will never look at the number 69 in the same way again.

So wait, does 5 = 0? SE = 69? This thread = the other thread?

X is FIVE?!? She told me she was 18!

Will somebody please tellme how there can be another one when there can be only one. I mean, we all know Duncan McLeod is destined to be the one, so how can there be another one?

Keanu Reeves is the one, silly.

if X = ecks, and SE = C ... CECKS

This thread needs a bump for the amount of win it possesses.

goose B's

@semck83, re: "WHY CAN'T THEY JUST FREAKING SAY WHAT X IS?"

You should take a look at functional programming languages. I just did a book club at work on Haskell, with the book Learn You a Haskell For Great Good. It's interesting, and the author has a good sense of humor. You can read it for free online, too, at http://learnyouahaskell.com/

Anyway, regarding your rant about algebra textbooks, in the introduction to the book, they write: "You also can't set a variable to something and then set it to something else later. If you say that a is 5, you can't say it's something else later because you just said it was 5. What are you, some kind of liar?"

That's a great book.

People who are good at math=bad at catching sarcasm.

I GOT IT!

We all know that SEX is actually spelled 53X and as X is 10 (when in Rome...) that means SEX=150. Divide by 2 for the normal number of people and then subtract 6 for the extra inches all guys exaggerate their manhood and SEX=69!

Sounds like a sexy version of the 23 enigma.

Well, 69 is 23x3...