Re: Another little puzzle

From	Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk>
Newsgroups	comp.programming
Subject	Re: Another little puzzle
Date	2023-01-08 19:59 +0000
Organization	A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID	<87cz7ox0fh.fsf@bsb.me.uk> (permalink)
References	(6 earlier) <878rioifnh.fsf@bsb.me.uk> <868rinskhk.fsf@linuxsc.com> <87zgb3giu6.fsf@bsb.me.uk> <86cz7pnji2.fsf@linuxsc.com> <87ilhgx152.fsf@bsb.me.uk>

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Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> writes:

> Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> writes:
>
>> Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> writes:
> <cut>
>>> The "other" average, minimises the sum of the of the angular
>>> distances.
>>
>> I think you mean it minimizes the sum of the squares of the
>> angular distances.
>
> Yes thanks.  I originally thought I'd write an abbreviation but then I
> convinced myself I would not forget any of the "squares of"s.  Proof
> reading might have been useful too.
>
>>>> and the center of mass is never on the unit
>>>> circle (not counting the case when all the time values are the
>>>> same).  Even so it's an interesting way to view the distinction.
>>>
>>> It's more interesting because it really is about chords!
>>
>> I don't buy the "really" here.  The center of mass is fundamental
>> and always well-defined.  Furthermore it works for collections of
>> points that are not all on the same circle or sphere.  Looking at
>> the problem in terms of chords seems somewhat artificial, or at
>> least less fundamental.
>
> There are other ways for something to be interesting (at least to me).
> When you plot the two averages, and look at the chords vs the arcs, it
> becomes clear why one average "looks" more average than the other.

I can see a possible misunderstanding here.  You might have taken my "it
really is about chords" to mean "it is fundamentally about chords", but
I said "it really is about chords" because you thought I'd used the word
chord incorrectly to refer to the lines between the centre of mass and
the data points.  I was saying "I really did mean chords".

-- 
Ben.

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Re: Another little puzzle Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2022-12-30 01:00 +0000
  Re: Another little puzzle Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2022-12-29 23:25 -0800
    Re: Another little puzzle Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2022-12-30 14:04 +0000
      Re: Another little puzzle Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2022-12-31 00:24 +0000
        Re: Another little puzzle Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2022-12-31 06:42 -0800
          Re: Another little puzzle "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2022-12-31 17:04 +0100
            Re: Another little puzzle Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2023-01-01 01:24 +0000
            Re: Another little puzzle Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2023-01-08 07:45 -0800
              Re: Another little puzzle "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2023-01-08 17:17 +0100
                Re: Another little puzzle Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2023-01-08 20:41 +0000
                Re: Another little puzzle Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2023-01-08 21:14 +0000
                Re: Another little puzzle "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2023-01-08 22:31 +0100
                Re: Another little puzzle Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2023-01-09 03:25 +0000
                Re: Another little puzzle "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2023-01-09 11:22 +0100
                Re: Another little puzzle Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2023-01-09 20:37 +0000
                Re: Another little puzzle "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2023-01-10 09:06 +0100
                Re: Another little puzzle Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2023-01-11 02:41 +0000
                Re: Another little puzzle "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2023-01-11 10:01 +0100
                Re: Another little puzzle Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2023-01-12 01:00 +0000
                Re: Another little puzzle Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2023-01-10 23:36 -0800
                Re: Another little puzzle Y A <ya00000100000@yahoo.com> - 2023-01-11 02:39 -0800
          Re: Another little puzzle Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2023-01-01 01:10 +0000
            Re: Another little puzzle Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2023-01-08 07:17 -0800
              Re: Another little puzzle Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2023-01-08 19:43 +0000
                Re: Another little puzzle Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2023-01-08 19:59 +0000
                Re: Another little puzzle Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2023-01-10 23:25 -0800
      Re: Another little puzzle Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2022-12-31 06:20 -0800
        Re: Another little puzzle Augǝl <angel0000000001000000000000@mail.ee> - 2022-12-31 10:23 -0800

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