Mathemagical Box--A Mind Experiment

[Turtle]

___Nice job on the first Mind Experiment everyone. Now we'll take a slightly different approach. Below, find attached a photo of my Mathemagical Box. Here is what I propose for our roles in this.

___Your Posts: 1) Questions; You ask whatever you want about the box

_____________2) Suggestions: You suggest creative ways to use the box

_____________3) Speculation: You try to gues some of the ways I use the Box

 

___My Posts: 1) I answer your questions

2) I respond to your suggestions as appropriate

3) If you guess/divine/figure out one of my uses, I will add an attachment _______________illustrating that use

 

Have Fun! :)

[alxian]

can i use it as the seal stamp when i'm elected president of the world in 2020?

 

what are its dimensions.. real and theoretical?

 

9x3x2? (inches?)

 

i'd have to guess its about the size of a brick.. looks like wood, with cheap lacker or stain.. part of a coffee table... bookend..

 

i can only guess those are ashes.. without seeing the other side i'd guess an ash tray.. given that the opening would easily fit cigarette butts.... but thats unlikely and simple given the complexity of the design...and that the hole is clean......

[Queso]

Did you make the box?

Does it open like a cabinate by that little knob?

How much does the box weigh?

 

You could do almost anything with a gnarly box like that.

 

I would stand on it, and observe the most distant mountain ranges, and scan their horizons for yettis.

I would place it next to my amp, and when I got tired of standing, I would just sit on it.

I would also put it on it's side, and place it in a room with a pillow-like floor, and there would be tea on it, for anybody who found the room, and wanted some at that time.

I would build a lego civilization surrounding the box, as if it were some kind of sacred mountain.

Better yet, if the box opens, I would build a civilization INSIDE of the box.

I would store watches that I stole from theives inside the box, and when I opened it, a symphony of clicks would captivate me.

 

Now, as for you.

You use it as a mind experiment, and household decor.

I will be back with more things I can, and WILL do with it later. :)

P.S. I like this experiment.

[Fishteacher73]

1) Questions :

 

A) Does it open/close or have an useable interior?

:D Constuction material?

C) Is it sturdy?

D) Dimensions?

 

2) Sugestions: (Alittle harder w/o a lot of info, but not impossible)

 

A) Doorstop/Paperweight (Depending on size and constuction)

:D To quote a SNL skit, "You can hide your weed in it, man."

C) To go along w/ the container ideal, some more unique items to store in it:

1) Ashes of a loved family member or pet.

2) Love letters/Bomb making parts...all from the heart.... :D

3) Porn....one always need a good spot for that. :o

 

3) Actual usages:

A) Pencil/pen box.

:) Self-defense weapon...

C) Knick-knack/Dust collector

[Turtle]

___Excellent! I will copy your replies so I type up a response offline; already it's more than I anticipated. No matter. Here's some quick Answers though.

__Q: can i use it as the seal stamp when i'm elected president of the world in 2020?

__A: Please elaborate as you have touched on one of mys uses.

 

__Q: without seeing the other side i'd guess an ash tray

__A: It is not an ashtray

 

__Q: looks like wood, with cheap lacker or stain.. part of a coffee table... bookend..

__A: It is wood: I have used it as a bookend: It is neither laquer nor stain & it wasn't cheap.

 

___Q: Did you make it?

___A: Yes

 

More later! :)

 

As promised:

__Q: Does it open/close or have an useable interior?

__A: It is open only by the hole;it is hollow inside.

 

__Q: Constuction material?

__A: Wood as I said, specifically red oak

 

__Q:Dimensions?

__A: 8"x 4" x 2/7/8"

 

__Q:To quote a SNL skit, "You can hide your weed in it, man

__A:Yes, but it would be hard to get it back out.

 

__Q:To go along w/ the container idea

__A:Anything you can put through the opening, it can contain.

 

__Q:How much does the box weigh?

__A:472 grams

 

__Suggestion:I would also put it on it's side, and place it in a

room with a pillow-like floor, and there would be tea on it, for

anybody who found the room, and wanted some at that time.

__A:I would look for that room.

 

__Speculation: You use it as a mind experiment, and household

decor.

__A: Yes

[alxian]

elaborations on what aspects? using the wooden brick (unless you can provide us with a better name for it) as a stamp for my presidential memoranda and stationaries? i doubt anyone wants that...

 

so it could be used as a template for the design of course.. but if its wood it might not adequately transfer the design to certain flat surfaces...

 

or the use of the artifact as a meat tenderizer?

 

nice.. my estimation on its dimensions was almost perfect!!! :)

[Turtle]

___That is all very good & I do use it as a stamp, rather a block print. The coloring is block printing ink. Now some math! (Like I wasn't going there with this).

___If you ink up all 6 sides of the box & on a large sheet of paper place the box on any side you choose. Now without moving the box completely from the papaer, roll it to an adjacent side. Now roll it again to a different adjacent side & so on until you have a continuous print of the box. I have to wait for my friend to take a picture of one of the prints.

___Now the question is, how many different such prints can you (I) make? I have a method to solve this in mind, but I never actually did. I don't know the answer. So, if you can tell me a method & answer I suspect is right, I'll try to check it.

___This can be the royal seal IF I get to be the Royal Mathemagician.

[Turtle]

___While I work on getting some photos of a print from the box, I offer this other use I have for the box. Inside, pressed tightly through the opening, a number of small stones; the box is also a rattle. :D

[Turtle]

___I now have a photo of some possible prints from the box attached below in post #31. More prints are possible that are different. Anyway, this may help you see what I asked you to count. :(

[Fishteacher73]

Kind of a 3-d tessellation rendered in 2-d? Rotate, flip, slide, etc.

[Turtle]

___Not a bad description at all Fish. Is it clear what I want you to count yet? We certainly have elements from symmetry here & one such is that if you ink up the box & roll it along like a log, you create what is called a 'frieze' pattern. The box is capable of 3 unique frieze patterns. :(

[Tormod]

Looks like an Escherian fish pattern to me.

[Buffy]

"Escherian fish pattern" == "Tesselation" for those of you who were wondering....

 

Metamorphose,

Buffy

[Fishteacher73]

Would it be safe to assume that each side w/ the same dimensions has the "same" pattern (although they appear hand made and there are more than likely subtle difference, in essence they are equivilent)? I.e. each large side has the same design and each smaller end has the same design?

 

So you could have a B(bottom), Si(side), B (bottom). ---Fliping it end over end l __ l ?

Every B would have to be followed by a S. At each flip you could flip it N,S, E,W. Each Si flip could then be followed by a E/W Si or a N/S B? (Or inverted, depending on how you started).

 

Does that make any sense?...I am trying to verbally describe possible visual patterns...Not the easiest.

[Turtle]

Not easy at all; you ask the right questions however. In fact, every "side" is different & the carving began at the opening & I worked out in a spiral. I ignored the edges as boundries & wrapped the pattern right over them.

You also have it right to name the "sides" & now since you see we have 6 different such "sides", I have these names for them.

Face 1 or F1 is the large "side" with the opening you see in the photo

Side 2 or S2 is the long thin "side" you see in the photo

End 1 or E1 is the top smallest "side" you see in the photo

Face 2 or F2 is the other large "side" which is in back & not seen in the photo

Side 1 or S1 is the long thin "side" you can't see in the photo

End 2 or E2 is small "side" the box is sitting on(which of course you can't see in the photo)

 

The name of the print in the picture is thus F1S2E1F2S1E2.

Last for this post, the carving technique is called 'chip carving' & more specifically I used what is called a '6 cut chip'. I proceded by laying out 1 'chip' & then carving it, laying out another chip next to it & carving it, & so on round the box. 6 years of off & on carving to completely cover the box with carving.

:cup:

[motherengine]

is there another hole in it? is it pictured in the position in which you would use it?

 

i would sit and stare at it until an application came to mind and then put it away for fear of the possible consequences of said use.

 

a unique murder weapon? some kind of oriental training exersise? hardcore shower sponge? i have it: to provoke interesting questions from people online.

[Turtle]

Q:is there another hole in it?

A: No

Q: is it pictured in the position in which you would use it?

A: Only in the vein of your comment: "i would sit and stare at it until an application came to mind and then put it away for fear of the possible consequences of said use."

Q:a unique murder weapon?

A: Indeed

Q:some kind of oriental training exersise?

A:possibly

Q: hardcore shower sponge?

A:No:excess water may cause the glue to fail

Q: i have it: to provoke interesting questions from people online.

A: it is now.