Why study math?

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I have mixed feelings on the issue of grammar. On the one hand, I strongly tend toward being a grammar Nazi; on the other, I recognize that the purpose of language is to communicate an idea between people and that anything which accomplishes this purpose is correct.

You've probably posted more outside PPR in the past two threads than in the preceding two years. Why is it someone else's problem that you act like a complete nut job whenever someone disagrees with you or challenges your views?

I rarely insult people as I insult their beliefs or their assumptions which is regularly perceived as a threat by people not comfortable in their beliefs that they would feel it threatened when questioned, or when logical inconsistencies are pointed out. If I do insult people it is usually because they obviously engage in subjects that they know little or nothing about and yet insult people who are actually in the conversation to learn and not to inflate their own importance.



I also do not remember pasts, but as the beauty of the internet unfolds you can use it to reduce or eliminate your own inconsistencies by remembering things you have said 5 minutes after you have said them. All you have to do is scroll up and read. Considering they way you communicate I would suggest starting to keep track of discussions as you seem to forget what you say right after you say it. I am not sure why you seem to want to communicate with me as I don't really see how you can't find it hard to communicate with me, but oh well.



It is actually quite simple. First you lay out your conceptualizations. Attempt to agree on terms used. formalize your thoughts and avoid vagueness. Rather like formulating a math proof mixed with a statistical evaluation. first you lay out your assumptions, then you define any terms you will use, then you offer your proof. Then the other person does offers their proof, you (and they) evaluate your hypothesis based on the information provided and decide whether to reject or fail to reject the hypothesis. You then determine if you want to reformulate your hypothesis and sometimes you start all over. Occasionally you will encounter something (term, concept, etc.) within the argument that you seem to disagree on and you must stop and agree to use a common definition for the purposes of the disagreement.

Considering that this is used extensively in math, reliable areas of science, and many forms of debate I would say my logical method seems to worth a little better than your "stabbing in the dark" method of running head-first into a discussion, refusing to define anything, and spending hours arguing only to find out you disagree on the definition of one word because you insisted on being vague. It is not how all discussions must occur. In fact it seems to be a rather primitive way to discuss anything.

My debates and arguments are civil, efficient, and intellectually stimulating. Maybe you should try it sometime.

the purpose of math could be simplified down to the concept of "relations" and the study of many areas of math are to help the person recognize the "relations" and are not used directly, but indirectly to help accomplishes that purpose.

A student studying decibels might never use the quadratic function, but the study of it strengthens the knowledge of how the logarithmic function works and the relations between its properties... which the student will use. So it is indirectly beneficial.

depends on what you are doing with the general bio degree. Most Marine Biologists or whatever only have BS, but if you want to do lab work you can pretty much guarantee that you need a Master's to get past "lab rat"

Following is chronological proof of the Reality that mathematics defines.

1. Theoretical Mathematics existed before Einstein's day.

2. His General Theory of Relativity makes use (naturally) of mathematics, that which can be abstracted before placed into such an application (and was).

3. Black holes were monstrous (and are), and were first seen in the form of Equations! It was not even clear whether or not they had actually existed.

4. As such, and related to the case of the mathematical application known as physics, black holes turned out to actually exist.

But, please note: some applications require the invention of new maths, and sometimes Pure Maths exist before the application. It is also important to realize that String Theory, while resting upon previously pure math, is not necessarily true, whereas General Relativity is, and that has been verified...

How did you end up there? What do you do?
For some reason I'm presuming you're not Japanese. Maybe you are?

In the UK people can get a PostGraduate Certificate in Education after their first degrees.

But what exactly sets a regular Masters degree apart from a Bachelors degree? In the UK, a Masters degree is just another year of taught courses with exams and a dissertation at the end of it. As far as I know, to get a Masters in a science subject, you're not expected to come up with any original results.

I have a Masters myself, but it was a conversion course in Computer Science, so I'm not sure it really counts.

it is halfway between a Phd and a Bachelor's and I presume allows you to write a thesis (mini dissertation) without original results.

You can skip it and go from a Bachelor's straight to a Phd.

Cool. Thanks, Shiggily.

How about my other question: how did you end up in Okinawa?

I flew

Very funny.

Last edited by skysaw on 29 Dec 2008, 5:42 am, edited 2 times in total.

confused

Sorry, I thought you were making a joke.

What I meant by my question was really ... what do you do in Okinawa?
I'm only asking because I am, like you, interested in math (or maths as we call it in the UK), and I was wondering if you did something math-related for a living.

Shiggily, please just say if you don't want to answer my question.

I voted ''other''.

Maths has its uses. There are things it can be used for, mostly in other fields.

Yet at the same time, a large part of math is entirely useless.