What is a circle?
Taken from Chris Lusto ?@Lustomatical
- In your groups, answer the question, "What is a circle?"
- Absolutely no book-looking or Googling. �If all goes well, you will be frustrated. �Your peers will frustrate you. �I will frustrate you. �Don't rob anybody else of this beautiful struggle. �If your definition includes the word�locus, you are automatically disqualified from further participation.
- Each group will have one representative present your definition to the class. �No clarification. �No on-the-fly editing. �No examples. �No pantomime. �Your definition will include, and be limited to, English words in some kind of semantically meaningful order. �Introduce variables at your own risk.
- If you're going to refer to some other mathematical object (and I suspect you will), make sure it's not an object whose definition requires the concept of�circle in the first place. �(Ancillary benefit: you will be one of the approximately .01% of the population who learns what "begging the question" actually means.)
- Once a group presents a definition, here is your new job: construct a figure that meets the given definition precisely,�but is not a circle. �Pick nits. �You are a counterexample machine. �A bonus of my undying respect for the most ridiculous non-circle of the day.
- When you find a counterexample, make a note of the loophole you exploited. �What is non-circley about your figure?
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Chris Lusto
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