Random Thoughts - Part Deux [NO POLITICS]

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by spike021

I think this is kind of a problem, though.

In school they insist on rote memorization almost all the time and so you're kind of forced into using that tool even if you're not skilled with it (I could never be at least for math, no idea why).

And so by the time you're out in the workforce, your best bet is hopefully analyzing a problem by using pattern recognition, which then hopefully leads you to recall similar-ish problems you've come across earlier, and from there you know what to look up to resolve them. But the whole "researching" to find a formula or whatever can be tough.

Especially since with software engineering the ironic thing about the job is that _while_ on the job, everybody Googles and whatever to research stuff they can't remember, but during interviewing you're expected to use rote memorization again.

Yep. It's a common problem when you consider a lot of our teachers and professors were educated pre-internet. I've never applied for a software position so I can't really say much about why that is, but I would guess that if you know concepts by memory you can write effective code/scripts/etc faster than if you have to stop and look it up.

Idk about anyone else, but my college professors actually let us use notes and textbooks on our tests. The test questions were never something they taught directly, but rather more complex problems that would use pieces of what they taught as well as stuff from prerequisite classes. I really liked that because it reinforced the idea that we were there to learn how to engineer, not how to do math.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

You said that 4 years ago.

Oh, I believe that post was referring to the roof, which is quite a bit harder, especially when I have to take steps backwards -

[soundman98]

all caught up. but i'm not exactly sure what i've been caught up on.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by soundman98

all caught up. but i'm not exactly sure what i've been caught up on.

That implies that you didn't know what you were doing ......

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by humfrz

That implies that you didn't know what you were doing ......

wait, i was supposed to know what i was doing?!? i thought you were keeping track of that!

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by soundman98

wait, i was supposed to know what i was doing?!? i thought you were keeping track of that!

I thought it was @Spuds day to watch you -

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by spike021

I’m a software engineer who was forced to take (and retake for that matter) way too many math courses.

Sadly I can’t be arsed to remember all the formulae.

Of course to be honest I wouldn’t say I was able to remember them all at the time, either.

I retook calc 2 the following summer and made it my bitch. Calc 3 was not as tough but ODEs were my brick wall. Still, I had a deep sense of privilege and appreciation. I'd love to have had the chance to do it again at a slower pace but we only get one go-around. I had already spent too much of it in the navy.


Ichi's problem is high school trig. All we need is to remember the name of the native American inventor of trig, SohCahToa.

[Hades]

I feel like calculus is more interesting & useful in bite-sized pieces. I feel like *nobody* needs the entirety of calculus (except maybe math majors who want to... teach math?). But I'm lazy and didn't go to college so

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by soundman98

all caught up. but i'm not exactly sure what i've been caught up on.

It's a moving target.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

I retook calc 2 the following summer and made it my bitch. Calc 3 was not as tough but ODEs were my brick wall. Still, I had a deep sense of privilege and appreciation. I'd love to have had the chance to do it again at a slower pace but we only get one go-around. I had already spent too much of it in the navy.


Ichi's problem is high school trig. All we need is to remember the name of the native American inventor of trig, SohCahToa.

I think I still don't get a lot of what was taught in calc3 and differential equations. Or linear algebra, that's just crazy talk to me. I think the problem was that I couldn't relate them to real world concepts. I somehow passed, but now that I think about it, I should probably take another shot at that stuff sometime...

[spike021]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

I retook calc 2 the following summer and made it my bitch. Calc 3 was not as tough but ODEs were my brick wall. Still, I had a deep sense of privilege and appreciation. I'd love to have had the chance to do it again at a slower pace but we only get one go-around. I had already spent too much of it in the navy.


Ichi's problem is high school trig. All we need is to remember the name of the native American inventor of trig, SohCahToa.

Honestly sometimes I wonder if I have some amount of ADHD because a huge part of my problem when it came to math was that no matter how interested in it that I was, I could never sit still long enough to think through what I was doing and commit it to memory/learn how it really worked.

I enjoyed Calc 2 and 3 enough that when I went to New York City like a year later, I found myself looking at some of the buildings with interesting curves and thinking about how I'd "cut them into pieces" like you would with 2d and 3d shapes in Calculus to measure them.

Originally Posted by Spuds

I think I still don't get a lot of what was taught in calc3 and differential equations. Or linear algebra, that's just crazy talk to me. I think the problem was that I couldn't relate them to real world concepts. I somehow passed, but now that I think about it, I should probably take another shot at that stuff sometime...

Fortunately I didn't need to do DiffEq, but I did take Linear Algebra (twice ) and I also enjoyed it for the most part. Or at least the ideas from it.

I think when it comes to matrix math, one of the easiest examples is if you take a 2D photo (and regular photo will do) and you start manipulating it in MS Paint or Photoshop, etc.

You can do transformations on that photo/image. Rotations, mirror flips along the X or Y axises, crops, etc.

While relatively simple ones, those transformations are what you'd learn to do on matrices, at least in theory. Obviously learning the actual strategies and techniques, and then applying them to super complex matrices is another story.

But that's also what I enjoyed about LA. If you're into graphics and related stuff it's quite relatable.

But same issue there like I mentioned earlier. I was just not good at all at sitting still studying/doing practice problems when it came to math. Even though I actually somewhat enjoyed the subject matter.

I keep thinking that someday I want to try re-learning at my own pace. There are some great Youtubers these days that teach math and have video series on different math subjects.

Just need to find the time ..

[Hades]

Women suck. All of em.

[JD001]

Originally Posted by Hades

Women suck. All of em.

What's up dude? "Someone" hit your parked car or something?

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Hades

Women suck. All of em.

My experience says that most people suck, regardless of gender or color. there are worthwhile ones out there, just need to wade through a lot of muck to find them!