Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Vulcan wrote:
I've always fould it hilarious that women who claim they 'can't do fractions and percentages' can always tell you to the penny how much money they saved at the big sale...

Many people find it difficult to understand something in a purely abstract fashion, but when that is contextualized with something familiar, or physical, it becomes substantially easier.

For example, 2+2=4 is generally taught to children by way of physical objects like apples.

filbert wrote:I wish I had learnt more maths when I had the chance. To this day I have no idea how to do long division because my dad took me on holiday to France when it was being taught to my class.

I feel the same way about proper sentence structure. Naturally the grade in which that was taught, the teacher I had was a complete ass, and only really bitched about how much his 2 sons disappoint him. So I literally, never learned it

Granted I could go and learn myself, but who wants to do something like that?

J.Black wrote:That said, I can still remember imaginary numbers, matrices, partial differentiation and integrating by parts from my university days.... Those things have no real use outside of specialised research jobs

Or many different types of analysts, bankers, cartographers, drafters, engineers, etc.

J.Black wrote:or drunkenly proving that 1=0 in the pub

I can assure you that you made a mistake.

I actually did my bachelors degree with mathematics as one of my major subjects. I can assure you that there are a broad range of applications that are used widely in many fields. Here's a little tidbit that I always found quite interesting. As a general rule applied mathematics is ~200 years behind the discoveries in pure mathematics. So most of the things that we utilize today is using mathematics (behind the scenes) discovered in the 1800s. Just insane!

Barksdale wrote:
I can assure you that you made a mistake.

http://www.math.hmc.edu/funfacts/ffiles/10002.3-8.shtml

Yes, there is a 'fault' in the proof but to the untrained eye it looks like you just broke maths.

As an engineer I use statistical analysis all the time to help with manufacturing issues, and also with programming to include boolean algebra. I haven't had to use anything beyond Algebra II or Trigonometry.

GG

I'm studio art major, what are math?

sirlynchmob wrote:

Manchu wrote:A convicted criminal can be elected President.

And a foreigner could hypothetically start a successful campaign to amend the Constitution and then also be elected President.

We have a few more amendments to get through before we can get to the 61st Amendment. We're at 27.

Obscure reference FTW

"Spartan, how do you justify destroying a ten million dollar shopping mall to avoid paying a fifty thousand dollar ransom?"

That movie was hilarious...

Vulcan wrote:

sirlynchmob wrote:

Manchu wrote:A convicted criminal can be elected President.

And a foreigner could hypothetically start a successful campaign to amend the Constitution and then also be elected President.

We have a few more amendments to get through before we can get to the 61st Amendment. We're at 27.

Obscure reference FTW

"Spartan, how do you justify destroying a ten million dollar shopping mall to avoid paying a fifty thousand dollar ransom?"

That movie was hilarious...

Demolition man...

generalgrog wrote:As an engineer I use statistical analysis all the time to help with manufacturing issues, and also with programming to include boolean algebra. I haven't had to use anything beyond Algebra II or Trigonometry.

Funny thing, you work in the hard sciences and use relatively basic math. I work in the soft sciences, and I deal with calc 4 and above.

It is a strange world.