I can’t answer for dual numbers, but I can answer for imaginary numbers in circuit design.

Imaginary numbers are those that include an imaginary component, that squares into a negative number. Traditionally, i^2 = -1, but electrical engineers like to use j instead (I tends to be a variable used to describe electrical current).

Complex numbers, that include a real component and an imaginary component, can be thought of as having an “angle,” based on how much of it is imaginary and how much of it is real, mapped onto a 2-dimensional representation of that number’s real and imaginary components. 5 + 5j is as real as it is imaginary, so it’s like having a 45° angle. The real number 5 is completely real, so it has a 0° angle.

Meanwhile, in alternating current (AC) circuits, like what you get from your wall outlet, the voltage source is a wave that alternates between a maximum peak of positive voltage and a bottom trough of negative voltage, in a nice clean sinusoidal shape over time. If you hook up a normal resistor, the nice clean sinusoidal voltage also becomes a nice clean sinusoidal current with the exact same timing of when the max voltage matches up with the max current.

But there’s also capacitors, which accumulate charge so that the flow of current on the other side depends on its own state of charge. And there are inductors, that affect current based on the amount of energy stored magnetically. These react to the existing current and voltage in the system and manipulate the time relationship between what moment in time a peak current will happen and when the peak voltage was.

And through some interesting overlap in how adding and subtracting and delaying sinusoidal waves works, the circuit characteristics line up perfectly with that complex angle I was talking about, with the imaginary numbers. So any circuit, or any part of a circuit, can be represented with an “impedance” that has both an imaginary and real component, with a corresponding phase angle. And that complex number can be used to calculate information about the time delay in the wave of current versus the wave of voltage.

So using complex phase angles makes certain AC calculations much, much easier, to represent the output of real current from real voltage, where the imaginary numbers are an important part of the calculation but not in the actual real world observation itself.

So even though we start with real numbers and end with real numbers, having imaginary numbers in the toolbox make the middle part feasible.

Set phasors to “confuse”

not someone you wanna prone bone anyway

I actually laughed out loud at the specificity here. Thank you for this, you’ve brightened my day.

This comment is like telling Superman not to lift with his back.

I just subscribed to cocktails. Thanks for putting that together.

I still have a few reddit alts that I lurk with, at least until we get enough activity on Lemmy on those topics:

• Sports discussion, including specific leagues and teams
• Discussion about my specific local city (and maybe the other cities I frequently visit)
• Things relevant to my career/industry in law
• Economics and financial news
• Food and cooking
• Television shows and movies, including specific shows or narrow discussions
• Super specific hobbies and interests, not just the stuff I’m personally into, but also knowing that there’s a community around some other hobby so that there is lots of archived discussion where I can just click around and learn something new. For example, the most recent plane crashes in DC and Toronto, I went to the aviation community on Reddit to see what experienced professionals were saying about those things as the news broke.

Lemmy’s good on all the tech and science stuff I like, and most of the memes/humor that I’m looking for. It’s coming along on some mainstream interests, including the ones I’ve listed above, but still has a ways to go before the organic discussions reach the level of detail and expertise that reddit has. But it’s on the right track, and I’m optimistic about those things filling in over time.

Ok, that’s funny. I’d go on a date with you.

Her: So, you want anything to drink?

Wait are you hitting on them at their place of work, as a customer? Don’t fucking do that.

Maybe forget “techniques” and be real.

For many people, being playful, like on OP’s example, is being real. I’m a playful person. I have generally been a class clown my entire life, and I’d even say it’s a pretty core part of my personality and my identity.

I’ve been married over 10 years, with kids, and I still do this kind of stuff with my wife. I enjoy being silly with my kids, too.

And when I was dating I’d rely pretty heavily on humor for flirting throughout all stages, from meeting a stranger to setting up a first date to being on a date, to going on multiple dates. The other person’s laughter was an indicator of whether we were making a connection. And then, later on, I learned that I could expect my partner to be funny too, and actively make me laugh.

Being fun and flirty is a legitimate strategy for making sure you have the opportunity to connect with people. It is, in itself, attractive to some. And it might be unattractive to others, but it’s better to be attractive to some and unattractive to others than it is to be forgettable and unnoticed.

If they like you they do, if not who cares?

I think this is a pretty naive way of looking at relationships. Connections require some level of effort, especially in adult life. As much as we’d all love to just naturally have friendships, romantic partners, and other relationships just fall into our laps, that’s not really how that works. Most connections require a bit of work to find others, to find commonalities, to develop interest, to have some give and take of making a deeper connection, to have some vulnerability and growth and change as that stranger becomes an acquaintance and develops into someone close.

For younger people, especially under 30, looking for a partner isn’t just about looking for someone they like now. It’s also someone they want to grow with and experience things together with.