Did you know that Alabama uses the "Biblical value" of Pi (3.0), rather than the mathematically correct value of 3.141592654, thanks to an Alabama State Legislature vote in 1998?

@TheHorse (207500)
Walnut Creek, California
February 1, 2018 8:25pm CST
I was shocked and dismayed to learn that for Alabama students, the value of Pi is 3.0, rather than the correct value of 3.141592654 (the correct value actually goes on forever). This means that Alabama high school and college students will never be able to correctly compute the area or circumference of a circle, based on its radius. Of course, this is utter BS, but I just stumbled on it while reading about "fake news" that people have believed over the years, often on April 1st. Here's the summary, from a website I won't reveal, in case I decide to BS MyLot readers again. Heh heh. I hope you could tell I was full of beans pretty quickly. "The April 1998 issue of the New Mexicans for Science and Reason newsletter contained an article claiming that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the 'Biblical value' of 3.0. Before long the article had made its way onto the internet, and then it rapidly made its way around the world, forwarded by people in their email. It only became apparent how far the article had spread when the Alabama legislature began receiving hundreds of calls from people protesting the legislation. The original article, which was intended as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe the teaching of evolution, was written by a physicist named Mark Boslough." Have you ever been fooled by "fake news"?
10 people like this
12 responses
@LadyDuck (460410)
• Switzerland
2 Feb 18
Those fake news are most of the time "too absurd" to believe them.
4 people like this
@LadyDuck (460410)
• Switzerland
2 Feb 18
@TheHorse Exactly, people should be able to realize those are fake news.
3 people like this
@TheHorse (207500)
• Walnut Creek, California
2 Feb 18
There's usually a few "winks" in such articles. And anything published on April 1...
3 people like this
@TheHorse (207500)
• Walnut Creek, California
3 Feb 18
@LadyDuck The ones published in fun are sometimes missed by those who lack a twinkle in their eye. The ones actually designed to deceive are a different story entirely.
2 people like this
@andriaperry (116860)
• Anniston, Alabama
2 Feb 18
I live in Alabama and I have not heard of that fake news. But I live in my own word and not to much into the news soooo.
3 people like this
@TheHorse (207500)
• Walnut Creek, California
2 Feb 18
Well it was apparently in a relatively newsletter but got picked up by the internet in 1998.
3 people like this
@TheHorse (207500)
• Walnut Creek, California
2 Feb 18
@andriaperry How could you! I had to stop and think about what I was doing on the internet in 1998. I guess false memes could be spread even then.
1 person likes this
@andriaperry (116860)
• Anniston, Alabama
2 Feb 18
@TheHorse Ahhhh, 20 years ago.I was 30 something and did not care about the news.[em]lol[/em Edit : I was watching t.v. and reading this so the 1998 got passed me.
2 people like this
@LeaPea2417 (36588)
• Toccoa, Georgia
2 Feb 18
LOL
2 people like this
@TheHorse (207500)
• Walnut Creek, California
2 Feb 18
Several of the ones I read were pretty funny. I hope I can find the link again.
2 people like this
@Fleura (29276)
• United Kingdom
2 Feb 18
That did seem rather far-fetched, although stranger things have happened. I don't remember Pi being mentioned in the Bible though - can you give me chapter and verse?? As for fake news, one of my favourites is this story:
'Cello scrotum', it turns out, was simply invented in the 1970s by a mischievous medic who is now a member of the House of Lords.
1 person likes this
@Fleura (29276)
• United Kingdom
2 Feb 18
@TheHorse I didn't think I remembered anything of the sort.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (207500)
• Walnut Creek, California
3 Feb 18
@Fleura Even if there are circle metaphors, I just don't either Testament would get down to that level of detail. Heh.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (207500)
• Walnut Creek, California
2 Feb 18
Fred 3:16. (There's no Pi in the Bible.)
1 person likes this
@just4him (308693)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
2 Feb 18
That's some fake news story. Sounds convincing. I started believing some of the things I heard until I read something I knew was absolutely false and realized there was something wrong with the news. That's when I heard about fake news. Now, I don't even pay attention to any of it.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (207500)
• Walnut Creek, California
3 Feb 18
This was written to poke fun at those who would teach creationism over evolution. You're a good person to consult. Do you think that "conservative" Christianity and science can exist side by side?
1 person likes this
@just4him (308693)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
4 Feb 18
@TheHorse Yes, I do. Eventually science catches up with God.
@spiderdust (14741)
• San Jose, California
15 Mar 18
Oh, thank goodness it's fake news! I was pretty dismayed reading the headline.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (207500)
• Walnut Creek, California
15 Mar 18
Heh heh. Yeah, I enjoy satire now and then.
1 person likes this
@jstory07 (135135)
• Roseburg, Oregon
4 Feb 18
I am fooled by all of the fake news coming out of Washington right. Congress and the Senate.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (207500)
• Walnut Creek, California
4 Feb 18
They are professional bullsh*tters anyway.
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
9 Feb 18
One problem is that state legislatures have passed absurd laws in the past, and it is sometimes difficult to tell which stories are true. In this post-truth world, a believed myth is more powerful than the truth!
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (207500)
• Walnut Creek, California
15 Mar 18
That is the truth. At least I think it is.
@JESSY3236 (19057)
• United States
2 Feb 18
I know that couldn't be true because I graduated in 1998. We did study pi is 3.14159.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (207500)
• Walnut Creek, California
3 Feb 18
Yeah, it would be pretty silly to change that.
1 person likes this
@paigea (35828)
• Canada
3 Feb 18
I don't know if I had encountered the internet yet in 1998!. I believed your title!
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (207500)
• Walnut Creek, California
3 Feb 18
Heh heh. Well, there are some pretty silly belief floating around out there.
1 person likes this
@bebuddy (256)
2 Feb 18
3.14
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (207500)
• Walnut Creek, California
3 Feb 18
I am a nerd and have it memorized to a fairly nerdy number of digits.
• Trinidad, Colorado
3 Feb 18
It's finny, if you word anything just right people believe it. I had to read what you posted 3 times before I realized what it actually said.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (207500)
• Walnut Creek, California
3 Feb 18
Heh heh. I was just having some fun.