Who are these kids? Do they have names? I have no idea how many of these anonymous kids this strip has, but every day a new one I’ve never seen before pops in to spout some pseudo-philosophical observation, with NONE of the humor (as such) deriving from their personalities (since they have none).
Actually, that stuff is called arithmetic, where you just are trying to learn the rules. Math should be called PUZZLES, and the rules and fancy symbols are just tricks that folks have discovered that help them solve puzzles about the universe. Real math is creative, exploratory, and adventurous in all the patterns around us. Kids hate arithmetic when taught as rote “getting the right answer”, they love math. when taught as an adventure. “Alice in Wonderland” was written by a mathematician and many of the adventures are mathematical allegories.
An engineer, a physicist, and an accountant were being interviewed for a position as chief executive officer of a large corporation. The engineer was interviewed first, and was asked a long list of questions, ending with “How much is two plus two?” The engineer excused himself and made a series of calculations before returning to the board room and announcing, “Four.” The physicist was next interviewed, and was asked the same questions. Before answering the last question, he excused himself, made for the library, and did a great deal of research. After a consultation with the United States Bureau of Standards and many calculations, he also announced “Four.” The accountant was interviewed last, and was asked the same questions. At the end of his interview, before answering the last question, he drew all the shades in the room, looked outside the door to see if anyone was there, checked the telephone for listening devices, and asked, “How much do you want it to be?”
I worked with a guy whose son was taking higher math courses in college. His son told him “Dad, math is easier once you realize it’s not about numbers!”
Ugh. Such a horrible misunderstanding and simplistic description of math. When I model life insurance, it’s a disciplined but creative pursuit of a helpful answer with multiple parts. Reducing projecting years of policy-accumulation across thousands of stochastic scenarios to working arithmetic sheets in grade school is like calling Beethoven’s 9th playing scales.
Three statisticians are out deer hunting. Spotting a buck, one of them fires and misses wide to the right. The second fires and misses wide to the left. The third begins jumping up and down and yelling, “We got him! We got him!”
“Writing rewards creativity” – once you learn the rules of communication in your native language, just like math. Until then, your writing is subject to varying levels of misunderstanding. Back to class, little one.
johndifool over 6 years ago
Who are these kids? Do they have names? I have no idea how many of these anonymous kids this strip has, but every day a new one I’ve never seen before pops in to spout some pseudo-philosophical observation, with NONE of the humor (as such) deriving from their personalities (since they have none).
Ignatz Premium Member over 6 years ago
I used to actually label it “FF” (for “Fudge Factor”) in my spreadsheet.
Spacedad2 over 6 years ago
Actually, that stuff is called arithmetic, where you just are trying to learn the rules. Math should be called PUZZLES, and the rules and fancy symbols are just tricks that folks have discovered that help them solve puzzles about the universe. Real math is creative, exploratory, and adventurous in all the patterns around us. Kids hate arithmetic when taught as rote “getting the right answer”, they love math. when taught as an adventure. “Alice in Wonderland” was written by a mathematician and many of the adventures are mathematical allegories.
mid_life_crisis over 6 years ago
An engineer, a physicist, and an accountant were being interviewed for a position as chief executive officer of a large corporation. The engineer was interviewed first, and was asked a long list of questions, ending with “How much is two plus two?” The engineer excused himself and made a series of calculations before returning to the board room and announcing, “Four.” The physicist was next interviewed, and was asked the same questions. Before answering the last question, he excused himself, made for the library, and did a great deal of research. After a consultation with the United States Bureau of Standards and many calculations, he also announced “Four.” The accountant was interviewed last, and was asked the same questions. At the end of his interview, before answering the last question, he drew all the shades in the room, looked outside the door to see if anyone was there, checked the telephone for listening devices, and asked, “How much do you want it to be?”
tiomax over 6 years ago
I worked with a guy whose son was taking higher math courses in college. His son told him “Dad, math is easier once you realize it’s not about numbers!”
CalLadyQED over 6 years ago
Ugh. Such a horrible misunderstanding and simplistic description of math. When I model life insurance, it’s a disciplined but creative pursuit of a helpful answer with multiple parts. Reducing projecting years of policy-accumulation across thousands of stochastic scenarios to working arithmetic sheets in grade school is like calling Beethoven’s 9th playing scales.
childe_of_pan over 6 years ago
Three statisticians are out deer hunting. Spotting a buck, one of them fires and misses wide to the right. The second fires and misses wide to the left. The third begins jumping up and down and yelling, “We got him! We got him!”
mddshubby2005 over 6 years ago
“Writing rewards creativity” – once you learn the rules of communication in your native language, just like math. Until then, your writing is subject to varying levels of misunderstanding. Back to class, little one.