Rust wgpu now has a
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yeah, I could imagine it's like that at other places. I went to a small liberal arts college (Bard College), and professors were given a lot of latitude and trust to teach even core courses their way, I think, even if general requirements are agreed upon.
there are some interesting courses for non-majors. I can find “Mathematics and Politics” and “Games of Chance” listed. Lauren Rose focuses on games/puzzles, stuff like Rubiks cubes and Set and generalizations.
sometimes the courses for non-majors are one-offs. I think there was a more conceptual course taught one semester, focusing on the larger picture like what are proofs and why do we care. I don't know any details or how it did.
but I agree. The Beauty and Joy of Mathematics needs to be a standard course
@monoidmusician @ireneista @MaddieM4 oooh, those all sound like pretty fun ideas
but yeah, this ought to be gathered into something repeatable
i wonder if there's a particular reason why the US doesn't really like to introduce discrete mathematics? (is this part of the same cold war math push that gave us much of the rest?)
since that's a *major* feature of recreational mathematics, puzzles and games, *and computing*
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@monoidmusician @ireneista @MaddieM4 oooh, those all sound like pretty fun ideas
but yeah, this ought to be gathered into something repeatable
i wonder if there's a particular reason why the US doesn't really like to introduce discrete mathematics? (is this part of the same cold war math push that gave us much of the rest?)
since that's a *major* feature of recreational mathematics, puzzles and games, *and computing*
discrete math was taught in the CS department, by the professor who also taught Haskell lol. (he, uh, wasn't a great teacher. didn't really meet the students where they were at or check that they really understood. yay for perpetuating Haskell's elitist reputation...)
but i'm not sure, i don't know the history of why discrete math is so rare. it's not exactly rare in pure math research either, is it? but it probably gets less attention on its own, and its biggest success, graph theory, is seen as its own thing.
i made a language based on hereditarily finite sets, for if i ever feel the need to explain set theory again haha
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@ireneista @MaddieM4 @mcc @decay @amarioguy on this note, it's an absolute shame that "pre-calculus" in the USA K-12 "traditional" math pathway is such a poorly-implemented clusterfuck
for those not familiar, as far as i can tell, this was *supposed to be* a wrap-up of elementary algebra and *the bridge* into the "real math" mode of thinking (i.e. the "correct" blend of formalisms, beauty, discovery, abstractions, etc. that mathematicians actually use)
instead, it typically turns into a poorly-motivated grab-bag of topics that aren't clearly "calculus" but that they couldn't fit anywhere else
a bunch of the "i wish i knew the math needed to do X" i've seen where X is something computer+art-ish doesn't actually require much beyond this (okay, probably some extra discrete math bits because the USA curriculum just refuses to add any of that)
@r i thought it's like algebra 3 -
@r i thought it's like algebra 3
@nyanpasu64 it is, except that the US split of "algebra 1" and "algebra 2" is itself a weird americanism and arguably not that well-motivated either
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@nyanpasu64 it is, except that the US split of "algebra 1" and "algebra 2" is itself a weird americanism and arguably not that well-motivated either
@r what alternative organization/progression of topics would make more sense to you? -
@r what alternative organization/progression of topics would make more sense to you?
@nyanpasu64 i mean, i'm not a policymaker, so i can just make up whatever i want, right?
* push basic single-variable equations throughout the integrated pre-middle-school curriculum. use empty boxes or something if "x" looks too scary (e.g. the UK does this)
* put all of elementary algebra involving polynomials, up to the fundamental theorem of algebra into just a single "algebra"
* make sure "euclidean geometry" is *actually* doing proofs and formalisms and the "real math" way of thinking. maybe throw some more discrete math ideas into here too, and spend less time on specific well-known euclidean geometry theorems (i certainly don't remember many of them)
* make trigonometry and all the haphazardly scattered bits of analytic geometry be its own actual thing. maybe even combine it with drafting (very oldschool), CAD, and/or gamedev
* "just" shove pre-calculus into either algebra or calculus
* do Something
️ more coherent with statistics (i'm not very experienced here, "probability and random processes" is somehow totally-different-yet-the-same in a way that doesn't actually transfer over)* maybe offer linear algebra for the tryhards
* Somehow
️ fit in a "how to _actually_ use computers (mostly for math)" thing? (spreadsheets, computer algebra systems, UI automation?, the rest of the "the difference in gen Z computer literacy is whether they had to install minecraft mods before the modern launchers" computer skills) -
@nyanpasu64 i mean, i'm not a policymaker, so i can just make up whatever i want, right?
* push basic single-variable equations throughout the integrated pre-middle-school curriculum. use empty boxes or something if "x" looks too scary (e.g. the UK does this)
* put all of elementary algebra involving polynomials, up to the fundamental theorem of algebra into just a single "algebra"
* make sure "euclidean geometry" is *actually* doing proofs and formalisms and the "real math" way of thinking. maybe throw some more discrete math ideas into here too, and spend less time on specific well-known euclidean geometry theorems (i certainly don't remember many of them)
* make trigonometry and all the haphazardly scattered bits of analytic geometry be its own actual thing. maybe even combine it with drafting (very oldschool), CAD, and/or gamedev
* "just" shove pre-calculus into either algebra or calculus
* do Something
️ more coherent with statistics (i'm not very experienced here, "probability and random processes" is somehow totally-different-yet-the-same in a way that doesn't actually transfer over)* maybe offer linear algebra for the tryhards
* Somehow
️ fit in a "how to _actually_ use computers (mostly for math)" thing? (spreadsheets, computer algebra systems, UI automation?, the rest of the "the difference in gen Z computer literacy is whether they had to install minecraft mods before the modern launchers" computer skills)@r ~~trigonometry is computational geometry~~ it's not completely wrong i think -
Anyway, I spent the last week writing documentation for Redox. The Redox project seems to be happy for my documentation patches. One thimble full of water, out of the sinking boat.
(Clarification on degree to which Servo relies on wgpu. I may update this post later once I've read more.)
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This thread is probably meandering and maybe solipsistic. My point is this: My weird background means I can look at this staircase full of missing stairs, identify one step, and go, "I can fix that". But I don't know if there's enough of me to fix multiple steps. I haven't decided what to do from here. Pick a step and fix it anyway? Pick a "fun" project, like the GPU [which face it, even if I finished it chances are not high more than 3 people would ever use it]? Give up and learn electric bass?
@mcc Music is unironically a great hobby for someone in your position
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@r ~~trigonometry is computational geometry~~ it's not completely wrong i think
@nyanpasu64 ehhhh not really?
i'm not sure why trigonometry gets _such_ a strong emphasis in the US either? or why it's done in such a toil-filled way (protip, instead of doing so many exercises with totally *useless* identities, just do them all in euler complex-exponential form?)
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@nyanpasu64 ehhhh not really?
i'm not sure why trigonometry gets _such_ a strong emphasis in the US either? or why it's done in such a toil-filled way (protip, instead of doing so many exercises with totally *useless* identities, just do them all in euler complex-exponential form?)
@nyanpasu64 all of the "but trigonometry has so many practical applications!" scenarios would be covered so much better if the US actually did a principled "analytic geometry" rather than spreading these ideas into all sorts of random places
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@nyanpasu64 ehhhh not really?
i'm not sure why trigonometry gets _such_ a strong emphasis in the US either? or why it's done in such a toil-filled way (protip, instead of doing so many exercises with totally *useless* identities, just do them all in euler complex-exponential form?)
@r complex exponentials yum
iirc they're a lot more obvious than memorized identities (largely went in one ear and out the other)... but i tried doing that in college once, messed up cancelling the duplicated terms, and confused myself -
@nyanpasu64 all of the "but trigonometry has so many practical applications!" scenarios would be covered so much better if the US actually did a principled "analytic geometry" rather than spreading these ideas into all sorts of random places
@r TIL analytic geometry
probably the concept i meant by "computational" -
@r TIL analytic geometry
probably the concept i meant by "computational"@nyanpasu64 ah, that would make sense!
this stackexchange user claims that the US *used to* actually have this: https://matheducators.stackexchange.com/a/28454
but apparently got rid of it in the usual "oh shit we need to Do Something" way the US tends to
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@nyanpasu64 ah, that would make sense!
this stackexchange user claims that the US *used to* actually have this: https://matheducators.stackexchange.com/a/28454
but apparently got rid of it in the usual "oh shit we need to Do Something" way the US tends to
@nyanpasu64 fucking everything old is new again
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@nyanpasu64 fucking everything old is new again
@nyanpasu64 gods, just imagine if it were actually structurally _possible_ to offer a "analytic geometry, drafting, CAD, gamedev, 3d-printing, textile arts" class in a school
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@mcc Music is unironically a great hobby for someone in your position
Get an upright bass. It's a PITA to move, but you'll always have a place in a session
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@nyanpasu64 gods, just imagine if it were actually structurally _possible_ to offer a "analytic geometry, drafting, CAD, gamedev, 3d-printing, textile arts" class in a school
@nyanpasu64 you can _even_ satisfy the "retvrn to tradition" nonsense and integrate "wood shop" and "home ec" (even though everyone knows that nowadays the teens are probably going to be making ttrpg and cosplay articles rather than whatever these boomers are expecting)
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@r @MaddieM4 @mcc @decay @amarioguy the entire fucking country would collapse if not for people who made that choice at a young age, to learn despite being punished for it
and it's too much to put on children. it's completely unfair.
@ireneista it's not just the US. I barely graduated highschool and got tracked into mediocre kid math (my math is still mediocre) but I have actually-computer-scientist mentors who've told me I am a natural at this. Sigh. On a personal side note, I am thinking about taking the UC Boulder online CS graduate program in my free time. Has anyone ever heard at it? There's no admissions as such, only a few classes to pass and you're admitted into the program, and it sounds like a phenomenal opportunity to get the education I never had access to—if the program is any good. I can link to it if any of you would be willing to take a look.
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Get an upright bass. It's a PITA to move, but you'll always have a place in a session
@johntimaeus once you've played with a good bassist, especially an upright bassist, it's really hard to go back
@mcc
