Re: It's official - we're all bad belayers

Lord Slime wrote:
"David Kastrup" <dak@xxxxxxx> wrote in message 
"Lord Slime" <jbyrnesNO@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

David, go get your dictionary and look up "discrete". What you
describe above is like a two line approximation to a curve. It's discrete, by definition. 

*ahem*

Slime, what you really wanted to say here was "discontinuous" - the
point where two lines of differing slopes (eg, a two-line
approximation to a curve of rapelling speed) meet is
non-differentiable, not "smooth" (and in all but David's hand, will
likely cause a 'hiccup' mid-rappel); and that, rather than
discreteness, is the problem here.

While "noncontinuous" falls under Webster's definition of "discrete", they are mathematically quite different ideas.

JSH, imping Ken.
.

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