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I can make you dizzy
I can ready athletes for games
I can shave sheep
I can show you images on screens
And with my help... you will see the truth when things go wrong
I can even do a mixture of all these things at the same time
And yet despite all of these things which I can do
I do not have the heart or soul to be able to move anyone or anything

What am I?

Hint:

I can be represented by a film

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  • $\begingroup$ Note that the answer to this riddle is related to a part of maths which may not be widely studied, hence the tag. However, programmers may also have come across it. $\endgroup$
    – Shuri2060
    Mar 30, 2016 at 23:26
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ Tries to shave a sheep with a fractal - Nope. That's not it. $\endgroup$
    – Khale_Kitha
    Mar 31, 2016 at 16:33
  • $\begingroup$ @Khale_Kitha The non-differentiability of a fractal should make it sharp enough to cut through anything, no? $\endgroup$
    – Quinn Culver
    Apr 2, 2016 at 21:21

6 Answers 6

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Credit goes to @ffao for the help with this

Is the answer

a linear transformation

Reasons:

All the lines are talking about different kinds of linear transformations.

I can make you dizzy

Rotation can make people dizzy.

I can ready athletes for games

Stretching helps athletes get ready for games.

I can shave sheep

Shearing is the act of shaving sheep.

I can show you images on screens

Projection is how you show images on screens.

And with my help... you will see the truth when things go wrong

Reflection can help you figure problems out.

I can even do a mixture of all these things at the same time

The combination of two or more linear transformations is still a linear transformation.

And yet despite all of these things which I can do I do not have the heart or soul to be able to move anyone or anything

When you move something you are causing it to suffer translation, which is not a linear transformation.

And for the hint

All linear transformations can be represented by a matrix. The Matrix is a film

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  • 4
    $\begingroup$ For 3/ what about en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shear_matrix. And maybe Spin Matrix for 1/, and stretch matrix for 2/ $\endgroup$
    – Fillet
    Mar 31, 2016 at 12:41
  • $\begingroup$ For 5th one, Vector(1d matrix) is represented with an arrow. Signs with arrows can show you directions when you are lost etc. $\endgroup$
    – Lafexlos
    Mar 31, 2016 at 13:10
  • $\begingroup$ What about "projection matrix" for no 4 ? "inverse matrix" for wrong=>truth ? "matrix multiplication" for the mixture thing ? $\endgroup$
    – fffred
    Mar 31, 2016 at 13:15
  • $\begingroup$ And maybe "nilpotent matrix" for the final one. $\endgroup$
    – fffred
    Mar 31, 2016 at 13:22
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Not sure about what is proper etiquette on this, but I suggested an edit, @SGR can accept it if he thinks it makes sense $\endgroup$
    – ffao
    Apr 1, 2016 at 7:48
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  1. Monitor as if we keep on looking it makes us dizzy

  2. We can monitor the Atheletes before the games to ready them

  3. Not sure - needed for list to work

  4. Monitor can also show our images on screen

  5. We can see the images on the monitor through cctv

Not sure about 3

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  • $\begingroup$ I edited some spoiler markup into your answer - for future reference, you can do this with >! at the beginning of a line, followed by your text. Two spaces at the end of a line will give you a linebreak. $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    Mar 28, 2016 at 14:10
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for the clean up. I tried putting those as spoilers but was not sure how to do it. Now i know I will apply that. Thanks $\endgroup$
    – LearningPhase
    Mar 28, 2016 at 14:15
  • $\begingroup$ OK, sorry, I changed it again - I realized that SE's markup autocorrects numbered lists to be in sequence, so while your raw text says 1. 2. 4. 5., it decided to number them 1. 2. 3. 4. $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    Mar 28, 2016 at 14:17
  • $\begingroup$ Sorry - but not the answer I was looking for. (btw can u put a spoiler at the top saying what your answer was - I had to look for a while to see it) $\endgroup$
    – Shuri2060
    Mar 28, 2016 at 14:19
  • $\begingroup$ Am i on the right track or way offff? $\endgroup$
    – LearningPhase
    Mar 28, 2016 at 14:29
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It might be

Injection

I can make you dizzy

Certain drugs can make you dizzy when injected

I can ready athletes for games

Some athletes inject various drugs, including (but not limited to) HGH, in order to perform better on the playing field

I can shave sheep

"The CSIRO in Australia has developed a non-mechanical method of shearing sheep using an injected protein that creates a natural break in the wool fibres."

I can show you images on screens

I... don't know this one

And with my help... you will see the truth when things go wrong

This is very likely related to drugs

I can even do a mixture of all these things at the same time And yet despite all of these things which I can do I do not have the heart or soul to be able to move anyone or anything

It follows from the above that these effects could be combined with certain injections

The hint:

It can be represented by a film

From the comments:

"Note that the answer to this riddle is related to a part of maths which may not be widely studied, hence the tag. However, programmers may also have come across it."

For math - I couldn't begin to explain this one; for computer-related topics, there is SQL injection

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  • $\begingroup$ Nice try, but again not the answer I'm looking for sorry :). In addition, it doesn't satisfy the hint. $\endgroup$
    – Shuri2060
    Mar 31, 2016 at 12:09
  • $\begingroup$ @QuestionAsker Oh, it does, I just forgot to add it to the answer $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    Mar 31, 2016 at 12:12
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Not sure if its right, but could it be

Simulation?

Because

  1. Space shuttle simulation makes you dizzy.

  2. Bio-mechanical simulator can prepare athletes analyzes performance of an athlete and helps them improve.

  3. Robotics simulation can transfer skills to a robot, which helps with shaving sheep (?)

  4. Ties to 2., most simulations can be displayed with a screen. (e.g. Golf Simulator, Game ... etc)

  5. When things go not as expected, some Bayesian or Monte Carlo simulation can often point to the true answer.

  6. Simulations, after all, is a computer iterative process or a program, which doesn't have an heart or soul to begin with.

And finally

Film simulation is a technique in Lightroom to enhance a picture quality.

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1
  • $\begingroup$ Sorry for the late response - I haven't checked this in the last few days. Unfortunately, that's not the answer I'm looking for either. The answer to this riddle is maths related, I'm afraid (That math tag is very important in this case). $\endgroup$
    – Shuri2060
    Mar 30, 2016 at 23:19
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(Two answers included here)

My first thought was

Iron

I can make you dizzy

Lack of iron (hemoglobin) in the blood will make you dizzy and lightheaded.

I can ready athletes for games

Blood doping is a common practice, where an athelete sets aside their own red blood cells (iron) and adds them before an event.

I can shave sheep

Shears and clippers were often made of iron. (Steel is more common now, but steel is made from iron.)

I can show you images on screens

In old CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) style monitors, an (iron) electron gun would shoot electrons at the screen to create the image.

And with my help... you will see the truth when things go wrong

When you get lost and use a compass, the magnetized iron will let you know which way is which.

I can even do a mixture of all these things at the same time

This one is a little vague, but I suppose an athelete could be dizzy from lack of hemoglobin while lost on his way to a blood doping session before his televised event. I don't know. :)

And yet despite all of these things which I can do I do not have the heart or soul to be able to move anyone or anything

Iron is inanimate. Also, it is the element with the highest binding energy per nucleon. Elements with nucleii lighter than iron can be fused to release energy, elements heavier than iron can release energy when their nucleii are split. (It does not contribute energy in fusion or fission reactions).

Then someone told me the answer was wrong. So here is my second attempt:

Shear

I can make you dizzy

Wind shear can make you dizzy

I can ready athletes for games

Swimmers shave before an event

I can shave sheep

You shave sheep with shears.

I can show you images on screens

LCD monitors take advantage of shear...

And with my help... you will see the truth when things go wrong

Umm....

I can be represented by a film

The Matrix: Shear can be represented by a shear matrix.

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5
  • $\begingroup$ Sorry, not the right answer. It's not math related too. $\endgroup$
    – Shuri2060
    Mar 31, 2016 at 19:12
  • $\begingroup$ I figured, but I thought I'd put it up anyway, I know the real answer now though. :D Check the second half. How's that? $\endgroup$
    – Solocutor
    Mar 31, 2016 at 19:22
  • $\begingroup$ Still not there, sry. $\endgroup$
    – Shuri2060
    Mar 31, 2016 at 19:30
  • $\begingroup$ Wrong answer, or incomplete explanation? $\endgroup$
    – Solocutor
    Mar 31, 2016 at 19:30
  • $\begingroup$ Wrong answer, I'm afraid, although you can use some of the ideas in it. $\endgroup$
    – Shuri2060
    Mar 31, 2016 at 19:31
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Is it

A grid

  1. Not sure

  2. Grid can be used for Atheletes to incorporate speed, skill and strategy in a test of endurance through a variety of weightlifting and body-weight elements.

  3. not sure

  4. grids can be used for X-rays

  5. referring to smart grids

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1
  • $\begingroup$ No, too far off (since the other gaps can't be filled). $\endgroup$
    – Shuri2060
    Mar 31, 2016 at 21:11

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