The magic is that, so far, every initial choice of a number eventually leads to the same behavior - eventually, the sequence trickles down to the cycle 4-2-1. But it's unproven if this is true for ALL numbers... it just works for all of the billions tested so far. :D
I'm vaguely astonished that this hasn't been proven. It just seems like the kind of thing that would have some sort of intuitive mathematical underpinning.
no subject
The magic is that, so far, every initial choice of a number eventually leads to the same behavior - eventually, the sequence trickles down to the cycle 4-2-1. But it's unproven if this is true for ALL numbers... it just works for all of the billions tested so far. :D
I'm vaguely astonished that this hasn't been proven. It just seems like the kind of thing that would have some sort of intuitive mathematical underpinning.