@RickiTarr LOL.
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@RickiTarr I think you're thinking about the physics people. They're all, all you have to do is plug in the constant for gravity, and you can derive the coefficient for friction or whatever, and then it's a piece of cake.
Go screw.
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@RickiTarr It's always just 42.
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@RickiTarr As soon as someone starts with the x and y stuff, my brain just shuts down.
And they always do that. They describe a situation, like the classic two trains which are departing in opposite directions, and I can deal with that. But then they convert that into x and y and all that mumbo jumbo, preferably with those quick intermediate conclusions only they can follow, and I'm off to grab a beer thank you very much. -
@RickiTarr Whereas we English majors will say, "exeunt, pursued by a bear" and then eat all your delicious waffles in the blissful silence left behind.
Huzzay for the liberal arts!
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it is like, you have 5 kittens, I take 2 how many do you have left.
5 and you have a black eye is apparently not the right answer....
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@RickiTarr They may be smart, but you’re the one having waffles with bears, so I think you win.
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@RickiTarr
As a math person I am sympathetic to this view. I think it comes largely from decades of terrible math education. There are so many crap textbooks where the word problems are just there for decoration and practice carrying out some mindless algorithm. -
it is like, you have 5 kittens, I take 2 how many do you have left.
5 and you have a black eye is apparently not the right answer....
@Thebratdragon @RickiTarr It may not be the answer they are looking for, but it's definitely the _right_ answer in my book.
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@Thebratdragon @RickiTarr It may not be the answer they are looking for, but it's definitely the _right_ answer in my book.
@rebeld @Thebratdragon @RickiTarr
To be fair, a severely mauled hand *may* be the answer they're looking for. -
@RickiTarr As soon as someone starts with the x and y stuff, my brain just shuts down.
And they always do that. They describe a situation, like the classic two trains which are departing in opposite directions, and I can deal with that. But then they convert that into x and y and all that mumbo jumbo, preferably with those quick intermediate conclusions only they can follow, and I'm off to grab a beer thank you very much.@edgeofeurope @RickiTarr
Stop trying to find your x, math! They're just not into you -
@rebeld @Thebratdragon @RickiTarr
To be fair, a severely mauled hand *may* be the answer they're looking for.@anarchic_teapot @rebeld @RickiTarr
that is just a bonus
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@RickiTarr The same people that write these problems were also hired by toilet paper manufacturers to convince you that 12 roles = 37 regular roles.
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People were so busy solving for syrup, they never asked why bears were invited for waffles
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@RickiTarr I read a good book, Misbehaving, by Richard Thaler. He's an economist who became fascinated, as a grad student with the work of the brain researchers Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman. Those two came up with the idea of cognitive biases, among other things, Nobel prize winners. He had struggled with the purely logical, extremely rational behavior economists believed humans would exhibit, knowing full well that humans *did not* behave that way. He basically came up with the idea of behavioral economics; humans behave instinctually, often not in their optimal - financial, or otherwise - interests.
This is a long way of saying that the purely logical, mathematical way of thinking exists in a separate but overlapping way of thinking with the linguistic, instinctual way. Both are valid. Some people are more comfortable in one than the other.
Kahneman's book, Thinking Fast, and Slow has stuck with me. He writes in a captivating, relatable way about the different ways of thinking.
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People were so busy solving for syrup, they never asked why bears were invited for waffles
@eljorgeabides They probably invited themselves
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@RickiTarr The same people that write these problems were also hired by toilet paper manufacturers to convince you that 12 roles = 37 regular roles.
I'm already having a rough day. DO NOT make me do rolled paper product math!
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@RickiTarr That problem really is simple and obvious :-). With a lot of experience in campground in Yosemite National Park, the number of bears that will come to your picnic is directly proportional the number of pot bangs. People bang pots together to scare the bears away, but, with years of experience, the bears have learned that banging pots means that food is ready so come and get it.
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@NuclearOatmeal @dnkboston @RickiTarr
Yeah, the cake is a lie.
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@RickiTarr Is this a story about simple syrup?
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@RickiTarr Being wired for sound, I'm thinking the generator to run the waffle irons scared away all the bears for miles around, so I've found volunteers to help consume the waffles. They're all BYOB with syrup and some are bringing extra butter.
