1.0   The versatile (and so very useful) line of Math

    The mathematicians of the world want you to believe that a line is simultaneously an itinerary, a distance, a geometric figure,
    a row of apples, a trough plowed by one apple, and a series of numbers. They go back and forth between these irreconcilable
    concepts during the same presentation. They take a point, which is not a dot, but a location, they make 'it' streak across space,
    and call it a line. Then, they begin to twirl, shift, scan, and translate this itinerary and to find points -- meaning locations -- on
    these locations. The mathematicians tell you that this itinerary is straight, when they really mean that it is rectilinear. Actually,
    it is neither straight nor rectilinear because the mathematicians are talking about a movie. They are pointing to a roll of film,
    which they casually stretched out on the blackboard and which they incongruously replaced with a geometric figure known
    as a line, which now becomes a pictorial representation of that trajectory, and finally end up twirling this avatar or reification.
    If the itinerary curves, the mathematicians call it a geodesic, and continue telling you that it is straight. Then they tell you that
    your eyes deceive you. The 'line', meaning the itinerary, may look curved to you, but is actually straight in Flatland and in the
    superior world of four dimensions:

    " space-time is not flat, as had been previously assumed: it is curved or 'warped'...
       bodies like earth are not made to move on curved orbits...instead, they follow the
       nearest thing to a straight path in a curved space (p. 29)...   The mass of the sun
       curves space-time in such a way that... the earth follows a straight path in four-
       dimensional space-time. " (p. 30) [1]

    " For two-dimensional inhabitants of this two-dimensional world the space is finite,
       or closed, but without boundaries. They are living on a spherical two-dimensional
       space of radius R. For these imaginary beings, who know nothing of the third
       dimension, a voyage of exploration in the same direction ('straight line') in their
       space leads to a surprising result, already experienced by those sailors who
       made the first circumnavigation of the Earth." (p. 71) [2]
    "
    It is just you, who is stuck in between these two worlds, lost somewhere in Solid-land, that believes he is staring at curved
    paths. The Flatlanders and Hyperlanders know better. If you want to see a genuine 'straight' geodesic, you will have to live in
    Flatland or inside a tesseract.

    At the end of their presentation, the mathematicians tell you that this alleged geometric figure is continuous, when they
    actually mean that it is made of segments or parts. They say it is a rigid structure, and then begin to find points within and
    along this entity. They tell you it is the shortest geometric figure or entity imaginable, but that it is itself made of points and
    that between two points you can always find another point, meaning a location, meaning a number. They have been doing
    Math like this for the last 2500 years.

    So Bill? Why is it that you say that the mathematical physicists of the world are bunch of stupid morons?

    Let's run the claims made by the mathematicians by again in fast forward so that they don't accuse me of putting words in
    their mouths:

    a.        two points

    “ Everyone knows that two points determine a line”  [3]

    b.        a distance: the separation between two points

    “ the curve that minimizes the distance between two points is clearly a straight line
       segment” [4]

    c.        a row of discrete dots

    “ A discrete line is a line made up of dots with space between the centers of the dots.”  [5]

    d.        a row of vacant locations

    “ an exact ‘here,’ a point is space…The endpoints of all vectors…form a straight
       line (pp. 11, 18)  [6]

    e.        a set of ordered pairs

    “ Each point in the plane is now a location in the Cartesian plane and is represented
       by an ordered pair.”  [7]

    f.        a set of coordinates (lines made of cross-hairs)

    “ point lattices may be taken to refer to points in a square array, i.e., points with
       coordinates” [8]
     
    g.        a geometric figure: an elongated rectangle made of a single piece  

    “ all the points which we obtain finally fuse together into a linear continuum, in
       which they become embedded, giving up their individual existences” (p. 16)  [9]

    h.        distance traveled (displacement): the trajectory of an object (typically a point)

    “ the line traced by a point in spacetime (a car) is a succession of events (the
       car observed at successive intervals) called the ‘worldline’ (of the car).” (p. 66)  [10]

    i.        a collage: footprints left by one object on a medium

    “ the tracks shown in Fig. 1 were obtained, which seemed to be interpretable only
       on the basis of the existence in this case of a particle” [11]  (Have patience... the
       paper may take a little bit of time to load!)

    Of course, if a line can be so many things at once, we can see how the mathematicians should have no problem explaining
    anything and everything. But what have they understood?


    2.0   The dull line of Physics

    In Physics, it is not remotely as complicated as all of this. In Physics, a straight line is very simply an elongated, straight,
    rectangular geometric figure (Fig. 1). That’s all that we have before us.

    line: An ideal geometric figure, usually a continuous rectangle, far greater in width
    than in height, and which has no importance whatsoever in Physics or in Science.  
    Whether straight or curved, in Physics, a line consists of four  edges.

    In Science, we don't define what a geometric figure is. In Science, we point to it. The foregoing definition is merely a
    description of what you're staring at below:


    The standalone line of Physics is more or less what has heretofore been known as a line segment. A line segment is 2-D and
    consists of two ends rather than of two endpoints. In Physics, there is no figure that is infinite! If you're looking for an infinite
    geometric figure, they sell those only at the Math Asylum.

    I’m sorry if this simple geometric figure disappoints the mathematicians, but that is all that a straight line is. For 2500 years
    the mathematicians have been staring at this rectangle and still declare that they have no idea what it is. So I slice through
    this Gordian knot with my 10-lb hammer and solve the riddle once and for all. A line is physically a rectangle. That’s all it is.
    That’s all we have before us. That's what you're staring at.

    Now, whether this version of the word line is useful is another matter. Physics doesn’t care if an object is useful to the idiots
    of Mathematics. This ‘useful’ feature is one that the mathematicians have concocted to justify their ridiculous physical
    interpretations to laymen. The scientific method requires the mathematician to conceptualize before he uses. This definition
    conduces to radically different results than those reached by relativity, quantum, and string theories.

    Once again, the mathematician may attempt to dismiss these arguments as irrelevant. He may try to convince you, perhaps,
    that the mathematicians of the world have used their flexible line for ages and that they've done quite well with it. Who am I
    to change such a long tradition? They will add that this is merely my version of line and that it has nothing to do with Math.

    The idiot of Mathematics who falls back on such argument has very little gray matter in his head to deal with such issues.
    This is not my version of a line. This is what a line is for the purposes of Physics, Science, and Geometry. Geometry is a
    science that deals first and foremost with shapes. A mathematician can talk all he wants about a series of locations or
    numbers and about finding infinite numbers between two locations on his infinite itinerary, but in Geometry he is first
    required to put something on the board. A location is nothing without something in it. Otherwise, the mathematician should
    come to terms with the fact that he has no authority to extrapolate any conclusion he infers from the mathematical line into
    Physics. The line of Mathematics has nothing to do with the real world.

    Therefore, a mathematician is denied the use of the word line in any scientific context. He cannot say line, expect the jurors
    to visualize an elongated rectangle, and explain his theory with a series of locations. This is not only unscientific
    (inconsistent use of a key term), but irrational. So to answer the mathematician, yes, it is not business as usual!

Fig. 1   Line
On my right, I have
a straight line, and
in my left hand, a
straight geodesic.
Don’t believe
them, Bill. A
straight line is
made of points,
like this one.
A point is a cross
between two lines, which
I hold on my right. A
straight line is made of
points and looks like this
curve.
I don’t know
what to believe
anymore!
Adapted for the Internet from:   Why God Doesn't Exist
So then, what is a line?

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