Subj : Re: packets To : Barry Martin From : Nancy Backus Date : Wed Apr 22 2020 17:59:56 -=> Quoting Barry Martin to Nancy Backus on 11-Apr-2020 09:14 <=- NB>>> When I was in maybe 9th or 10th grade, we had a math teacher that NB>>> decided we should have some exposure to the "new math"... but at least NB>>> he was careful to keep from confusing us with it... and it became more NB>>> of another math tool for us.... BM>> As an additional tool probably would have been fine for me but BM>> apparently my "new math" was a replacement and undermined what I had BM>> learned with the "old math". Anyway, the good news is I generally BM>> catch math errors: doing my beginning of the month payments. Either BM>> mis-keyed or mis-remembered an entry and when I listed the running BM>> total in my credit card journal thought "that's not right". Check: the BM>> entry was wrong. NB>> It's good to have a mental check running in the background to catch NB>> when things don't make sense... ;) BM> True! Saves problems later! Exactly... :) BM>>> I don't remember what the differences are but do know it confused me BM>>> and while I was decent with the Old Math the 'conversion' broke the BM>>> rules and I never quite unscrambled them. Can do math manually, and BM>>> do, just certain number combinations seem to not quite click. NB>>> As I recall, it was adding into the mix things like algebra and NB>>> geometry, but not calling them that, just throwing in the concepts NB>>> that were supposed to help one understand how adding and subtracting NB>>> and multiplying and dividing related to each other.... for some it was NB>>> just another layer of MISunderstanding.... What comes to mind for me NB>>> is a partly remembered Tom Lehrer song about the "New-ew-ew Math", a NB>>> very humorous take on the confusions it generated in young (and not NB>>> so young) minds about math.... BM>> I must have been one of those confused characters in the song! I did BM>> do fairly well in algebra, etc. Didn't take too much 'advanced' math BM>> as didn't need to go that deep/'complex'. NB>> I eventually went as far as DiffEQ (Differential Equations, but we'd NB>> also call them difficult equations) in college after a few quarters NB>> of calculus... but then at the time I was a chemistry and then a NB>> physics major.... Didn't stay with either one, though.... BM> Chemistry and Physics use a lot of math; research can too, just BM> plotting out can get mathemetically complex. ...I'm getting into an BM> area I know nothing about so coming out with Mr. Obvious type replies. That's ok... math ends up being useful no matter what one ends up doing, the higher math mostly useful for the sciences... As I said, I ended up not really staying in the physical sciences, but got into the social sciences... :) BM>>> OTOH have also used the calculator and realized the answer displayed BM>>> doesn't seem right so there is some sort of mental calculating going on. NB>>> Which is what my Physics professor Daddy used to refer to as the common NB>>> sense factor.... paying attention to whether or not the calculator's NB>>> answer made any sense.... did you forget a decimal point, or add one NB>>> too early...? Or did you transpose numbers while inputting them...? NB>>> I always do it both ways, whichever I do first... and use the one to NB>>> check the other... and if they don't agree, do them both again to NB>>> find where the glitch is.... :) BM>> Your father had a good name for the process! Just because a machine BM>> says so, or even someone else, doesn't absolutely mean it's BM>> correct/truthful. NB>> Exactly... :) BM> Some things are very yes/no, true/false, work/won't work and no matter BM> how much one tries to get around won't alter. Other the premise is BM> wrong but has been accepted as true and can be so can 'altered' -- BM> really is the first one, just had the wrong information. Basic math is very much yes/no.... when one gets into the logic levels of math and sciences, there's more of the how you get there can make a difference.... and there might be more than one way... And when one is dealing with people instead of math and science, there's a lot more factors, and a lot more of the shades of white/grey/black.... :) BM>>> ... Math problems? Call 1-800-[(10x)(13i)2]-[sin(xy)/2.362x] NB>>> Speaking of the new-ew-ew math... BM>> Do the innermost set first.... And if takes too long just call BM>> Directory Assistance! NB>> But there's those letters, and that sin(e) of something.... even NB>> the calculator can't handle all of that... BM> I have a calculator which indicates it can, or at least some of it. I BM> have no idea how to operate that portion of it; I bought the BM> calculator because it had a 'rubout' key so instead of erasing the BM> entire entry I could delete just the erroneous button-push. One still has to know how to solve for x, y, and z.... :) NB>> ... Of people born in 1839, 100% who ate carrots are dead! BM>> That seems proof enough carrots are bad for you!! NB>> Faulty reasoning, just like one might do with the below.... ;) NB>> ... 100% of people who breathe die. BM> Stop breathing and save yourself!! But when one stops breathing one does die... ;) ttyl neb .... I like stuffed animals. Oven baked with bread crumb stuffing. --- EzyBlueWave V3.00 01FB001F * Origin: Tiny's BBS - http://www.tinysbbs.com (454:1/452) .