Circles do not exist

petsoi@discuss.tchncs.de to Linux@lemmy.ml – 63 points –
Circles do not exist
nibblestew.blogspot.com
16

Okay but raster images can't represent circles either, since they're just approximations using squares

And many "circles" aren't circles either, but 2D torus approximations. The edge of a true circle is made of infinitesimally small points so would be invisible when drawn. And even if you consider a filled circle, how could you be sure you aren't looking at a 1-torus with an infinitessimally small hole? Or an approximation of all the set of all points within a circle?

Clearly, circles are a scam.

A 1-torus is a circle, you mean an annulus. You do NOT want to make this mistake at a topologist dinner party, trust me.

Damn, so what's the name of the shape that's a flat donut with an inner and outer circular perimeters? i.e. a filled circle with another smaller radius circular area subtracted from it. Or 2D cross section of a torus seen perpendicularly to the plane that intersects the widest part of the torus. A squished donut, or chubby circle, if you like.

Well I'd argue vector image can represent a real circle but what's on the screen will never be one.

Also why is this on Lemmy Linux?

There are analog vector displays.

Ah yes indeed but there must be some imperfections down the line so not a Real circle, though we are getting closer.

Titles like this annoy me. If you have something interesting to say - which is the case here - say what it is. No need to obfuscate the topic. It wastes time for everyone.

Anyway, it's kinda hilarious that the only way to make a proper circle in PDFs is with line caps. What a bizarre format. I hope it's succeeded by something better sooner rather than later, I can't think of any time they haven't been a pain to work with.

What a bizarre format.

You should have seen my face when I discovered that it even supports 3D graphics, but you can probably count the functional readers on your fingers... and they're all proprietary.
Honestly not surprised, PDF feels like a taped together format that is at the whims of Adobe, supporting all those exotic features would be hell and I would not want to be in the position of the person who takes care of that. At this point it feels like a shittier website without responsiveness

I've been saying this for years! If properties of a shape cannot be expressed with finite precision then how can that shape exist in a universe with clunky restrictions like the planck length?