Ask Chaos Anything!

[The Wandering Wizard]

1. What is your favorite math equation?

2. What is your favorite kind of science?

3. What is your favorite event in history?

[Chaos]

On 5/3/2022 at 5:47 AM, #1 Taln Fan said:

3. How many 3-year olds do you think you could take in a fight at once?

Oops, I didn't answer this third one. I mean are we talking like a fight to death? Odd premise, haha. I think I could take at least five of them. But you know, I don't exactly want to attack three year olds.

15 hours ago, The Wandering Wizard said:

1. What is your favorite math equation?

2. What is your favorite kind of science?

3. What is your favorite event in history?

1. Euler's formula. 

2. Physics is my jam!

3. This one is more tricky for sure. I can't say I've thought of this specifically. Lots of pressure to say something wise and poignant here. I'll say the American Civil War is a fascinating thing to read about. Its causes are so deep in American history, as are its effects. But at the same time it's extremely interesting to look at the tactics and the time period. If you want to have fun, just go to Wikipedia on the Civil War and see how many tabs you can get. Great reading.

I will say that the Lincoln Memorial in DC was such a moving experience for me. Read Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address and the Gettysburg Address. Incredibly powerful. 

[Chaos]

Hello, I am bored and would love some questions! (Yes yes, double posting, I know.)

[Medium]

No way.

The God of the site, breaking his own rules????

INSANE.

Anyways-

Hello hi, Chaos, it's me, everyone's favorite bird.

What kind of cheese is your favorite?

Do you crave a better mass of flesh than your current one?

Am I making you uncomfortable?

What's your favorite text size and font to use?

If you could be any animal, what would it be?

Cheeseburgers or hot dogs?

Thank you, have a great day.

[That1Cellist]

Do you have a favorite Rabbit breed?

[Chaos]

19 hours ago, CalanoCorvus said:

1. Hello hi, Chaos, it's me, everyone's favorite bird.

2. What kind of cheese is your favorite?

3. Do you crave a better mass of flesh than your current one?

4. Am I making you uncomfortable?

5. What's your favorite text size and font to use?

6. If you could be any animal, what would it be?

7. Cheeseburgers or hot dogs?

1. Hmmmmm I don't know, tough competition. I can't say I've met you before so I don't think you could be my favorite bird  

2. I'm basic. Cheddar and Swiss are useful for different things so I'd say those equally.

3. Oh yeah of course. Who doesn't?

4. No.

5. I mean, this depends on what context you're referring to. Different fonts are appropriate in different situations! I typically write in Arial now in google docs.

6. Usually I'd say a shark, because sharks are sweet. But ever since getting cats, I'd totally do a day as a cat.

7. Cheeseburgers, easily. Not even close.

19 hours ago, That1Cellist said:

Do you have a favorite Rabbit breed?

I honestly could not name a single rabbit breed, sorry.

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

what is your favorite type of drink?

who is your favorite character in Brandon's books?

how many signing have you been to?

who is your favorite actor?

what is your favorite movie?

have you ever considered writing a book?

If so, did you try and write it?

[Chaos]

On 8/4/2022 at 4:55 PM, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

1. what is your favorite type of drink?

2. who is your favorite character in Brandon's books?

3. how many signing have you been to?

4. who is your favorite actor?

5. what is your favorite movie?

6. have you ever considered writing a book?

7. If so, did you try and write it?

1. Dr Pepper, but my favorite alcoholic drink is amaretto and ginger ale.

2. Kelsier and Adolin, I think? Oh, and Ba-Ado-Mishram, obviously.

3. Oh man, that's tricky. Before 2011 gets tricky, I'm not sure if I went to a signing before then, but I did meet Brandon before then. I went to Alloy's release, Words of Radiance release, and Shadows of Self's release. I drove at least twice from Montana to SLC for Brandon signings. I remember one in December Brandon was surprised to see me that I drove all the way down there. Hilarious. There was SpoCon 2013 and MisCon 2018, and then the Skyward San Francisco signing in 2018. So a lot! I probably forgot some. 2018 was my last one though.

4. I can't say I have one. I usually don't have favorites quite in this way like most people have.

5. Similar to the last one, but in a pinch, I say Inception. I do love that movie. The Dark Knight is also incredible.

6. Wrote half of a big epic fantasy before but ran out of steam in undergrad. I'm writing an even more ambitious epic fantasy book right now. 

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood]

20 minutes ago, Chaos said:

6. Wrote half of a big epic fantasy before but ran out of steam in undergrad. I'm writing an even more ambitious epic fantasy book right now. 

I'd look forward to reading it if you finish it, chaos.

[Lego Mistborn]

What advice do you have for someone interested in making a career out of math?

[Shining Silhouette]

Same as above, and which kinds of math are most useful for a prospective computer science major looking for a minor/major in math?

[Chaos]

On 8/5/2022 at 6:13 PM, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

I'd look forward to reading it if you finish it, chaos.

Cool! It will probably fall flat on its face, but it is fun. Hard work though.

On 8/6/2022 at 2:08 PM, Ta'veren Kaladin said:

What advice do you have for someone interested in making a career out of math?

Could I ask what you mean by this? Math is a thing where there's not like... a math industry, per se, right? That makes it hard to give general advice.

I'd say make sure you take applied math classes, and if there are things that have technology components, do them. Take some programming classes too. If you want to go into industry, those skills will be good. If you're doing a stats route, do data analysis classes. If you want to do pure math research in academia, then this is less applicable, but if you aren't sure, I'd do those classes. I found coding and the formal logic in proofs to be very transferable skills of thinking extremely logically and carefully.

On 8/6/2022 at 3:50 PM, Shining Silhouette said:

Same as above, and which kinds of math are most useful for a prospective computer science major looking for a minor/major in math?

You will have an easier time marketing your skills to employers. As I said above, I think the skills are very transferable.

For types of math, make sure you do linear algebra. But that's not really advice, as any math major or minor will require it. It's hard to overstate how ridiculously useful that is. If you do a math major, things will progress where eventually you will not be calculating things, but proving things, and that will be what you will exclusively do. It's less crazy/hard than that sounds. Programming will teach you a lot on how to go slowly, step-by-step through things to accomplish a goal, and that's what proofs are like. Main difference is that you can't compile a proof to see if it worked  

[Lego Mistborn]

Thank you, tis very helpful. I was thinking of going the academia route, but programming is kind of an option off on the side.

[Shining Silhouette]

1 hour ago, Chaos said:

You will have an easier time marketing your skills to employers. As I said above, I think the skills are very transferable.

For types of math, make sure you do linear algebra. But that's not really advice, as any math major or minor will require it. It's hard to overstate how ridiculously useful that is. If you do a math major, things will progress where eventually you will not be calculating things, but proving things, and that will be what you will exclusively do. It's less crazy/hard than that sounds. Programming will teach you a lot on how to go slowly, step-by-step through things to accomplish a goal, and that's what proofs are like. Main difference is that you can't compile a proof to see if it worked  

Thank you so much! This is excellent and gives me a great idea of what to look forward to!

[SymphonianBookworm]

Why do you prefer that there would be no afterlife?

Favorite Wit insult?

Do you like clocks?

Favorite sport to play/watch?

Do you like the day or night more?

If you could go inside a book and live there, which book would you go in?

If you could talk to one person, dead or alive, for one day, who would you choose and why?

[Chaos]

On 8/16/2022 at 5:29 AM, SymphonianBookworm said:

1. Why do you prefer that there would be no afterlife?

2. Favorite Wit insult?

3. Do you like clocks?

4. Favorite sport to play/watch?

5. Do you like the day or night more?

6. If you could go inside a book and live there, which book would you go in?

7. If you could talk to one person, dead or alive, for one day, who would you choose and why?

1. To me it seems like a big claim that living forever would be good. At least in Christian circles it feels like, "oh, because you're with God and God is good, this will be good." I don't know. I've seen too many sci-fi/fantasy stories about the problems with immortality to desire it. Secondly, I think things should in fact end. I definitively do not want to exist forever. The possibility of existing forever in some other place, to me, feels like things matter less in this world. But it's great to stop existing eventually, surely? What's to say ten trillion years from now you don't just desperately want things to end? 

2. Hmmmm... one is not coming to mind. He was great insulting Ruthar. I have trouble remembering specific lines.

3. I'm not quite sure what you mean by this. Like how? I guess so?

4. I can't say I'd ever deliberately watch or play any sport. Watching American football is okay and I wouldn't totally hate it. But my general sports enthusiasm is essentially nothing. I was at some teaching training days at my college I work at, and people were just so excited for the college sports team. That's great and all, but I would say my excitement on a 0 to 10 scale is at a firm 0. When Hearthstone esports was bigger, I watched a lot of that, though, so I see the appeal somewhat. But I can't say I'd even watch the Olympics. 

5. Night, let's say.

6. Man, most book settings are terrible though!

7. I'm on a bit of a kick on watching YouTube videos on the historical Jesus (that is, what the early Jesus definitely said) and early Christianity currently. Assuming I spoke and understood perfect Aramaic and could understand the cultural context of the time effectively, I would be very interested in hearing what the actual Jesus believed himself to be, and not what people after his death ascribed him to be. 

If you're interested in early Christianity and New Testament history, Dr. Bart Ehrman is incredibly interesting and has a YouTube channel with a huge amount of talks he has given. It's very fascinating seeing this text in a more historical context rather than a religious context. Probably interesting for both Christians and non-Christians! I had no idea the gospels were written decades after Jesus's death, in Greek (not Aramaic which Jesus and the apostles would have spoke) and that we have no copies or fragments of them until the second century (and very limited ones at that). Though honestly I had no idea that Mark (who wrote the earliest of the gospels) was not one of the apostles. Very interesting! 

[The Wandering Wizard]

If you could only have three meals for the rest of your life, what would they be and why?

[Lego Mistborn]

A couple more kind of about religion

1. Sazed's discovery at the end of the Mistborn trilogy. What do you think of his assumption about hope and religion? How does it apply to you, in your current faith setting?

2. You have previously talked about immortality as being quite potentially bad. When you said this, you refered to fiction that depicts the negative consequences of such. In my experience, immortality in fiction is depicted as bad because the characters who pursue it are selfishly pursuing it or attain it through a less than desirable system. Do you think these things would have a significant effect on the quality of an afterlife?

And one just for fun

3. Do you hate derivatives?

And I don't have a question pi.

[Chaos]

On 10/13/2022 at 11:07 AM, The Wandering Wizard said:

If you could only have three meals for the rest of your life, what would they be and why?

Hmmmm... Spaghetti with a meaty sauce would be number one. Honestly, I don't need anything else. I could eat that forever. I love it. I have eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a day. I'm making it tonight. Delicious.

On 10/14/2022 at 4:34 AM, Ta'veren Kaladin said:

A couple more kind of about religion

1. Sazed's discovery at the end of the Mistborn trilogy. What do you think of his assumption about hope and religion? How does it apply to you, in your current faith setting?

2. You have previously talked about immortality as being quite potentially bad. When you said this, you refered to fiction that depicts the negative consequences of such. In my experience, immortality in fiction is depicted as bad because the characters who pursue it are selfishly pursuing it or attain it through a less than desirable system. Do you think these things would have a significant effect on the quality of an afterlife?

And one just for fun

3. Do you hate derivatives?

And I don't have a question pi.

1. Great story and resolution for Sazed's arc that I really like, but realistically, religions also say a lot of inaccurate things too. Why not believe things we can empirically know are true instead? How do you know the difference? Well, without empirical testing, you have literally no way of knowing. So I'd prefer to find truth a very different way, with things that are demonstrably facts. If it can't be demonstrable or if there's not any data or evidence, is it even real? We legitimately know way more facts about the universe--deep, fundamental, insane facts--than anyone thousands of years ago, even ones that are supposedly divinely inspired. We know how disease happens, we know how the stars work, we know about atoms. We can demonstrate them, test them. That's so much more potent a story. With our own eyes and brains, we can learn so many deep secrets in the background! That's the truth I like. No faith required. 

Of course, if you get meaning and hope out of religion, cool, more power to you. I think a lot of people don't need some deep cosmic meaning to existence, though. I certainly don't. To me, it's natural. I think it's a lot of hubris to think that any one of us is so incredibly special. Just do your best to treat people kindly and don't be a jerk, and that's fine enough for me. 

So no, Sazed's arc is great for him, but is totally irrelevant to me. 

2. Let's think of someone who is generally "good" for the sake of argument, and they were suddenly granted immortality. They will still have everyone they have ever loved die horrible deaths. That's not going to go well no matter what. Even in the best case scenario, with the best, most selfless people, I think a million years from now, they will not be having a good time. We are not designed for this. I think it's perfectly fine that we end at some point, and I find the obsession with existing forever to be very bizarre. 

3. Well, you may be at a different stage of math than I am, but I find derivatives very mechanical and rule-based. Nothing to hate. Differentiation is kind of trivial. Certainly, the first time you see derivatives, there's a lot going on, but you had similar stuff with exponent and log rules and stuff like that. You remember a few rules and you can do any of these derivatives. It's nice. But then, I've been doing derivatives for fifteen years, so it's extremely old to me. 

[Channelknight Fadran]

How’s it going, mate?

[Chaos]

4 hours ago, Channelknight Fadran said:

How’s it going, mate?

Not great. Extremely busy with preparing for Dragonsteel 2022 and content for The Lost Metal. 

[The Voiceless One]

9 hours ago, Chaos said:

Extremely busy with preparing for Dragonsteel 2022 and content for The Lost Metal.

What is it that demands the most out of you in these endeavors (time or otherwise)?

[Chaos]

5 hours ago, The Voiceless One said:

What is it that demands the most out of you in these endeavors (time or otherwise)?

Time for sure. Time is very precious there. But this week has been productive. I've gotten a lot of things off my to-do list. 

[The Voiceless One]

45 minutes ago, Chaos said:

Time for sure. Time is very precious there. But this week has been productive. I've gotten a lot of things off my to-do list. 

I had been trying to ask what it was that took the most of your time, and added the 'or otherwise' when it occurred to me at the last minute that there may be some resource like patience or interest that was being consumed more than time.  That said, I can easily see where your interpretation came from.

[Chaos]

7 minutes ago, The Voiceless One said:

I had been trying to ask what it was that took the most of your time, and added the 'or otherwise' when it occurred to me at the last minute that there may be some resource like patience or interest that was being consumed more than time.  That said, I can easily see where your interpretation came from.

Oh, gotcha. Video editing and content creation, primarily. But I just finished edited the Lost Metal video review, so that's nice. So much Brandon Sanderson related stuff to do.