Did you know that Alabama uses the "Biblical value" of Pi (3.0), rather than the mathematically correct value of 3.141592654, thanks to an Alabama State Legislature vote in 1998?
By The Horse
@TheHorse (217891)
Walnut Creek, California
February 1, 2018 8:25pm CST
I was shocked and dismayed to learn that for Alabama students, the value of Pi is 3.0, rather than the correct value of 3.141592654 (the correct value actually goes on forever).
This means that Alabama high school and college students will never be able to correctly compute the area or circumference of a circle, based on its radius.
Of course, this is utter BS, but I just stumbled on it while reading about "fake news" that people have believed over the years, often on April 1st.
Here's the summary, from a website I won't reveal, in case I decide to BS MyLot readers again. Heh heh. I hope you could tell I was full of beans pretty quickly.
"The April 1998 issue of the New Mexicans for Science and Reason newsletter contained an article claiming that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the 'Biblical value' of 3.0. Before long the article had made its way onto the internet, and then it rapidly made its way around the world, forwarded by people in their email. It only became apparent how far the article had spread when the Alabama legislature began receiving hundreds of calls from people protesting the legislation. The original article, which was intended as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe the teaching of evolution, was written by a physicist named Mark Boslough."
Have you ever been fooled by "fake news"?
10 people like this
12 responses
@andriaperry (116936)
• Anniston, Alabama
2 Feb 18
I live in Alabama and I have not heard of that fake news.
But I live in my own word and not to much into the news soooo.
3 people like this
@TheHorse (217891)
• Walnut Creek, California
2 Feb 18
@andriaperry How could you! I had to stop and think about what I was doing on the internet in 1998. I guess false memes could be spread even then.
1 person likes this
@andriaperry (116936)
• Anniston, Alabama
2 Feb 18
@TheHorse Ahhhh, 20 years ago.I was 30 something and did not care about the news.[em]lol[/em
Edit : I was watching t.v. and reading this so the 1998 got passed me.
2 people like this
@Fleura (30168)
• United Kingdom
2 Feb 18
That did seem rather far-fetched, although stranger things have happened. I don't remember Pi being mentioned in the Bible though - can you give me chapter and verse??
As for fake news, one of my favourites is this story:
'Cello scrotum', it turns out, was simply invented in the 1970s by a mischievous medic who is now a member of the House of Lords.
1 person likes this
@just4him (317004)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
2 Feb 18
That's some fake news story. Sounds convincing. I started believing some of the things I heard until I read something I knew was absolutely false and realized there was something wrong with the news. That's when I heard about fake news. Now, I don't even pay attention to any of it.
1 person likes this
@spiderdust (14761)
• San Jose, California
15 Mar 18
Oh, thank goodness it's fake news! I was pretty dismayed reading the headline.
1 person likes this
@JESSY3236 (19864)
• United States
2 Feb 18
I know that couldn't be true because I graduated in 1998. We did study pi is 3.14159.
1 person likes this
@Amberlily (50)
• Trinidad, Colorado
3 Feb 18
It's finny, if you word anything just right people believe it. I had to read what you posted 3 times before I realized what it actually said.
1 person likes this