User blog:XXChris TwistXx/Common Questions Answered

As the same questions come up time after time in googology, it would be helpful if there were to be a blog post specifically dedicated to the answering of these questions.

1.) How do I write equations on this site? (e.g. \(\displaystyle R_{\mu v} - \frac{1}{2} R g_{\mu v} + \Lambda g_{\mu v} = \frac{8 \pi G}{c^4} T_{\mu v}\))?

Perhaps the most frequently asked question, the answer by using a built-in program called "MathJax". When you edit a blog or a page, go to the source code, which is accessed by selecting the “Source” button pointed to by the yellow arrow in the picture to the right. Click this, and you will be in the source code of the page, where you can type out math commands.



Now the ways to create math equations are as follows: span commands and MathJax. The former offers us ways to adjust the final equation and add custom touches, and the later allows us to write the equations in the first place. With MathJax, every string of characters you want to be rendered into an intelligible result must be preceded by a “ \( ” and succeeded by a “ \) ” to be a valid MathJax expression. From now on I will be speaking of commands on their own, but keep in mind you ‘’must’’ always use the “ \( ” and “ \) ” symbols at the beginning and end of these commands for it to be valid!

Below is a short sample list of TeX commands or phrases I’ve compiled that should pique your curiosity as to what else one may do. In some cases it is helpful to see the command in context, so in those cases the command itself is highlighted, and the rest may be regarded as contextual.

For a virtually exhaustive list of Tex commands available in MathJax check out this page. To see what your MathJax commands look like rendered in real time there is this helpful website, (note that there is no need to include the beginning \( and \) characters in the editing window).

Pro-tip: On every page you visit, by pressing the letter “e” on your keyboard you should be automatically able to open up the editor viewer for that page, even if it is a blog post! This allows you to view the source code of many pages on this wiki, and by doing so you can learn by example how various equations are constructed. For blog posts and pages which can offer you practice in this, see Googleaarex’s ‘’SGH Functions’’, Hyp cos’s ‘’Analysis - BEAF, FGH and SGH (part 2)’’, Emlightened’s ‘’Hypernomials_(Γ₀)’’, Bowers Exploding Array Function, the Bashicu matrix system, and Rayo’s number.

2.) How do I learn all there is to know about googology, or in general, just get started in my googological education?

Although googology is an obscure section of pure mathematics whose popularity is easily dwarfed by topology, set theory, and other mainstream math courses; it is a very diverse field with many practitioners. Even if you absorbed one hundred paragraphs of googologically relevant material a day, it is unlikely you would ever come to learn ‘’all’’ there is to know about googology. For starters however, there are these videos on the subject, which cover descriptions of various functions and numbers, (each letter links to a seperate YouTube video or playlist).

Also, if you have questions feel free to ask them in the help desk section of the forum, as blog posts are mainly intended to be for informative or exhibition purposes.

Pro-tip: No-one, I repeat, No-one, (except for and an extremely rare few), is able to perfectly recall what they have learned and in doing so gain knowledge instantly. You will have to put forth effort to learn concepts that may be strange or unfamiliar to you - but if you put forth the effort, keep an open mind, ask questions, ask yourself questions to test your own knowledge, and refuse to put yourself down, then you will get far.

You may see some blog posts on this wiki, some of which I've linked, that may cause you to think: "Goodness, how will I ever learn that?". All I can say is: "You will, in time". You might be surprised to learn how many people were just like you when they started out on the path of learning. In short, practice doesn't always make perfect, but it sure makes you better!

WIP but not RIP, i'll add a question a day until it looks right.