so i was thinking on my walk to work yesterday

there's gotta be a zeno-like paradox for a manhattan distance of increasing sharpness not eventually leading to a straight line.

ie
go down 1 right 1, total distance travelled 1+1 = 2
go down 1/2 right 1/2 down 1/2 right 1/2 = 1/2*4= 2
go down 1/4 right 1/4 ... = 1/4*8= 2
go down 1/n right 1/n ... = 1/n*(2n)= 2

lim n-> infty (1/n)(2n) = ....sqrt(2)?

that has never sat right in my head
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@jeffcliff

This already exists.

What you are calling "Manhattan distance" is more formally called "Taxicab geometry" and the paradox you are describing is called the "Staircase paradox". It is also sometimes called the "Diagonal paradox"

mathworld.wolfram.com/Diagonal

@jeffcliff Huh, the link I sent wasnt to the coastline paradox (though it does link to that paradox as well)

@jeffcliff That is rather strange, its a well known site and doesnt go down often. It is up for me. Might be a problem on your end.

@freemo weird


<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>Error</title>
</head>
<body>
<pre>Cannot GET /DiagonalParadox.html</pre>
</body>
</html>

is pretty definitely a 'their end' sorta thing
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