Monday, September 7, 2009

Two Misconceptions and a Shout Out for the New Blog on the Block (or the Basement)

During hi-how-are-you conversations (which I HATE, as many of you already know), people often say:

"You're studying in City College? Is that a community college?"

I don't know why this is, or which dumbell invented these terms, but "community college" means "two-year college." People asking this question probably don't even know that there are two-year and four-year colleges. They really mean to ask, "Is City college a public college?"

For the record:
The opposite of a private college is a public college.
The opposite of a community college is a senior college.

The other misconception is harder to clear up. People say, "Oh! You're studying math. So what are you gonna be? An accountant?"

AURGH!! All the math you need to do accounting is addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Do accountants ever plumb the mysteries of derivatives, integrals, transcendental functions, vectors, or three-dimensional surfaces? This I doubt. To quote the second greatest computer of all time and space, "Molest me not with this pocket-calculator stuff."

And now the shout out: Big N8t's latest post is good shtuff. Reminds me of my yeshiva days.

22 comments:

  1. There's one transcendental function that accountants need: the e function.

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  2. I hate the word accountant. I wouldv'e asked: 'so what are you gonna be? A math geek?'

    And I would be right!

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  3. i would have asked 'wats math?'

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  4. Look how amazing my farbi was, it inspired E. to write a blog post!
    E is going to make atom bombs.

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  5. :) well he's gonna do something crazy someday, and we all better watch out!

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  6. mottel, I've been doing a post a day for the past couple days, and I started working on this post yesterday afternoon, so don't flatter yourself.

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  7. ...plumb the mysteries of derivatives, integrals, transcendental functions, vectors, or three-dimensional surfaces?
    You make math sound so inspiring. Really.

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  8. eh, I was just playing with words. The kuntz would be to make math inspiring while actually teaching y'all some math.

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  9. Go ahead, I'm going put up a post some time, on how to properly wash brushes...

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  10. i remember back in the day I used to wash brushes. We had these little containers of brush cleaner and this one huge sink around which the entire art school would wash their brushes and their hands.

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  11. e - mathematical artist. who knew?
    that line sarabonne quoted? genius.

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  12. btw as i get to know e, i find every time i say something, he will invariably respond with 'you see in maths this is what we call a transcendental function...' or something. he always talks like that. very educational btw.

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  13. Sarabonne: from third grade through eighth grade, once a week.

    Cheerio: Every time I mention the studying math, I always refer to it as plumbing the mysteries of mathematics. It's one of my standard lines.

    Dowy: That comment reminds me of a hyperbolic function, centered at the origin.

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  14. this is what happens with my artistic math instruction.

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  15. math is not artistic, i thought we went through this

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  16. Math may not be artistic, but art is definitely mathematical.

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  17. we went through that too.
    i want to say that with that old yidishe kind of shrug - as in the story where the rabbi sais 'your also right'
    och writing is so expresionless.

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  18. Math can also be art. Take a look at the Mandelbrot set!
    If we are to believe that all of the world can be explained mathematically, then the fall of a leaf, the colors of the sunset and the granduer of a canyon are all included!
    For the record, an education in Torah is just as valid as one in math, art history, or english lit. - it is when one squanders yeshivah or sem years that there's a problem.

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  19. anyway the math part of it aint art

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Forth shall ye all hold.