[Previous entry: "Innoculations"] [Next entry: "Australians Bested"]

03/20/2004: "Wologimbat"

In high school, I had the greatest math teacher ever. He made math fun. He introduced me to his favorite Australian Marsupial, the wologimbat.

No, please don't fact check me here. Like I said, he made things fun. Wologimbat stands for "Without The Loss In Generality, It May Be Assumed That". Wologimbats simplify proofs by eliminating diversionary arguments.

For example, suppose that you are in a dark room with a drawer full of socks, 10 black, 10 brown. How many socks must you take to assure you have a pair which matches in color?

One can say "Wologimbat, assume the first sock chosen is black. If the second sock is black, we're done. If the second sock is brown, take a third sock; it will either be black or brown. Either way, it will match one of the first two socks taken. One need to only take three socks." The point of wologimbat is that we can exchange the words 'black' and 'brown', and the proof still holds.

When I invoke wologimbat, it is my acknowledging that, yes, I know that I am being sloppy with details. I am asking that you ignore my slop and concentrate on the crux of my argument.