In my personal experience, math was the single most difficult subject, and
furthermore prevented me from ever going on to a four year college,, since they
required a certain level of math to enter. However I think that may have been
for the better since I tend to think more people should get out in the world and
get a real job instead of pissing around in college wasting their own and their
parent's money.
Math is so difficult if for no other reason that it is so abstract with no
logical reasons as to why anything "adds up" I've done quite a bit of
programming and I would define it as logical, sequencial steps but my same
experience with math was just absolutely being dumbfounded by it. To be
perfectly honest I didn't get past pre algebra. If I sat and thought about it a
bit I could go and on about various things in math that don't make sense but
it's interesting to note one big one that popped up this millenium. It was
something that I've often thought about. People said that 2000 is not the
beginning of the new century, but rather 2001 is. Ever since I was a child I
thought about the same thing,, why have 0 if 1 is 1?? If there's a 0 but yet it
does mean something,,, then 0 must be 1 and 1 is 2. That very logic screwed up
my addition on more than a few occaisions! When you count do you count 1 2 3 or
0 1 2 3 ? Because if you count 0 1 2 3 thats four numbers you have passed not
3!!! sigh
Since we are already so far off topic let me go on to say this: Too many
"schools of higher learning" participate in a discriminatory practice. They
assume that you need certain classes to understand certain other classes. Take
math and computer science. I have learned and written difficult programs on my
own whereas if you wanted to take the same instruction in school they would
require calculus or some such other uneeded thing. 90 percent of programming
requires no math! The most complex math you'll find in most programs is simple
incrementing, deincrementing, multiplication and division. I think the last
real case of having to program IN math was fortran 4 using punch cards,, but
I've never done it myself. As far as I'm concerned math and many aspects of
computer science should not be seen as dependent upon one another. There are
many people who would make great programmers if given the chance to program.
The only type of programming that demands high end math are games and scientific
simulations with believe it or not games being the most complex programs to
write. System application programs like say a word processor or an email
program are NOT math intensive. It is more difficult though if you choose to
use an obfuscated language such as VC++ instead of a more straightforward one
like Visual Basic. It's a real shame that educators feel they need to put
students through a predefined schedule of classes that have nothing to do with
what they want to learn or otherwise prevent them from achieving it.
One more comparison,, math and electronics. At our local college the math
club was the electronics club. That didn't make much sense to me. I saw what
they were building one day in there and frankly I wasn't impressed. They were
building robots from kits, and I was building 600 watt linear amps for my ham
rig,, among a myriad of other things and fixing old shortwave and broadcast
receivers for people for a small fee.
I only just touched on a huge problem in what I said here but those reading
it who know what I'm talking about can relate,, and those that just somehow
absorbed or memorized their way through school, won't understand what I'm
talking about.
"Simmons, Reid W" wrote:
> Actually, I found mathematics (up through differential equations anyway) to
> be quite understandable and straight forward. It is a very precise science
> [language] with exacting rules that will explain things "exactly". No, I
> don't consider myself a "math whiz", but I did have to take a lot of it for
> my degree in Physics. People think themselves into believing that math is
> difficult and therefore it becomes self-fulfilling.
>
> And on the subject of Electrical Engineers - the best ones I have worked
> with had done a lot of electronic tinkering and building (like "real" Hams)
> when they were kids and then pursued a formal engineering degree in college.
> The "worst" engineers I have encountered made the decision late in their
> high school years to pursue an engineering career and had no hands-on
> experience or intuitive feel for electronics at all.
>
> Reid, K7YX
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dan [mailto:tacquire@earthlink.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2000 2:50 PM
> Cc: 'tentec@contesting.com'
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] electron flow vs. current flow
>
> As if most people CAN or ever really DO understand that! :)
>
> Dan
>
> "Avila, Edward" wrote:
>
> > Sherrill actually, you'll find (as I did 15 years ago) math is the more
> > elegant and precise way of explaining electronics theory....usually no
> more
> > difficult than high school trig. /k6sdw
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Sherrill WATKINS [mailto:SEWATKINS@dgs.state.va.us]
> > Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2000 1:03 PM
> > To: tacquire@earthlink.net
> > Cc: tentec@contesting.com
> > Subject: Re: [TenTec] electron flow vs. current flow
> >
> > Fascinating! However, the more I read about electrical theory the less I
> > know and the more confused I become. Will someone please explain in
> > common english and without math just how the flow of electric current
> > through the ground causes a gas pipeline to corrode?? ( Next we will
> tackle
> > how a lightning strike is a complete circuit?) - Thank's- sherrill k4own
> >
> > >>> Dan <tacquire@earthlink.net> 10/18/00 03:52PM >>>
> >
> > In reality lightning is a complete loop like any circuit. Don't know if
> > this has been mentioned here before or not but there is even positive and
> > negative lightning,, so named because of where it initiates, positive
> earth
> > to negative clouds or the other way around. In other words whether or not
> it
> > starts from the clounds goes to earth and comes back, or starts from earth
> > goes to clouds and comes back.
> >
> > Neat stuff anyway :)
> >
> > Sherrill WATKINS wrote:
> >
> > > Actually, I believe it was Benjamin Franklin who postulated in about
> circa
> > 1750 that electricity flows because of an attraction from positive to
> > negative poles. Also, it was Franklin that postulated the theory
> (correct)
> > that lightning is the flow of electric charges and therefore offered the
> > first scientific explanation that lightning is the flow of electricity.
> > Franklin also postulated correctly that lightning will favor an attraction
> > to a point over a sphere or flat surface and from this he correctly
> > developed the theory of the lightning rod, now called the "air terminal".
> > However, my cathodic protection engineer friend is adamant that current
> > flows from positive to negative. - sherrill k4own
> > >
> > > >>> "Dan Cox" <tacquire@earthlink.net> 10/18/00 02:43PM >>>
> > > hehe, it's really amazing that the myth ever got started. Supposedly it
> > was
> > > easier around the turn of the century to explain electricity if you
> > > explained it in the reverse of how it actually works.. Imagine these
> > > people's confusion when they started learning about vacuum tubes for
> > > instance! The logic just DOES NOT work!!
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Sherrill WATKINS" <SEWATKINS@dgs.state.va.us>
> > > To: <tentec@contesting.com>
> > > Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2000 10:47 AM
> > > Subject: [TenTec] electron flow vs. current flow
> > >
> > > >
> > > > A friend of mine, who is a cathodic protection engineer, states that
> in
> > > the cathodic (corrosion) protection business, he installs sacrificial
> > > anodes on buried gas piplines to protect against corrosion. He also
> > states
> > > that current flows from the positive to the negative pole but electrons
> > > flow from the negative to the positive pole! - Sherrill k4own
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
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> > > >
> > > >
> >
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