Ask Chaos Anything!

[Chaos he/him]

A dozen, a gross, and a score,

Waaaaay too many words for math

Gods, yes.  It never ceases to amaze me the sheer critical mass of childishness extant in Corporate America.  It probably will someday, and on that day I will be the most jaded creature to walk the earth.

Yeah. The worst. This is why I like teaching in college. If someone just feels they are entitled you just say "well how exactly did you expect to pass when you didn't pass the first of three exams?" Then they get sad and know they cannot win. Muwhahaha.

[Haelbarde he/him]

Should I be glad I'm not taking Mathematics classes wherever it is you teach?

Oh, and did that forum update ever land?

[Kaymyth she/her]

Wait there are other algebra limericks? I know this one: 

 

( (12 + 144 + 20 + 3 Sqrt[4]) / 7 ) + 5*11 = 9² + 0 .

Which is, for those following along at home:

 

A dozen, a gross, and a score,

plus three times the square root of four,

divided by seven,

plus five times eleven,

Is nine squared and not a bit more!

 

Nice one; I had another person hit me back with that one on St. Pat's.

 

There's actually another calc limerick out there somewhere, but I'm too tired to go looking for it now.

 

Waaaaay too many words for math

Yeah. The worst. This is why I like teaching in college. If someone just feels they are entitled you just say "well how exactly did you expect to pass when you didn't pass the first of three exams?" Then they get sad and know they cannot win. Muwhahaha.

 

Too many words for math?  Say it ain't so!  What about those perfect glories of mathematical learning - word problems?

 

Ironically, my actual job is a lot easier than teaching, and at this point pays more than I could have expected to be making.  But there's a big difference between teaching college and teaching elementary.  The latter would have required a level of "on" for me that would have eventually squeezed my poor little introvert soul dry.

[Chaos he/him]

Should I be glad I'm not taking Mathematics classes wherever it is you teach?

Oh, and did that forum update ever land?

You would be just fine in such a math class. The students I never see, show up for exams that they get 20% and 30% on, and then cry to me "I really need to pass" a few days before the final? I have absolutely no empathy for them. Good students, if they don't have the grade they want, talk to their professor and want to do better. They don't wait the day before the final. Very few students are in this category, but yeah, these students failed themselves. And as a college professor, you look at their grades and you can't say anything other than, "yep, they definitely deserve to fail."

There are also the students in that category that have failed the same class multiple times. You'd think after the first F you'd come to class and, I don't know, do anything productive. I've seen people retake Calc 1 and Calc 2 upwards of three times. They always think they don't need to come to class. They are wrong. So yeah, I don't have any empathy for those students. It's different if a student had major health issues that prevented them from learning, but if that was the case, you tell your professor.

I've been busy. Upgrade is coming. You will definitely see.

[Haelbarde he/him]

You would be just fine in such a math class. The students I never see, show up for exams that they get 20% and 30% on, and then cry to me "I really need to pass" a few days before the final? I have absolutely no empathy for them. Good students, if they don't have the grade they want, talk to their professor and want to do better. They don't wait the day before the final. Very few students are in this category, but yeah, these students failed themselves. And as a college professor, you look at their grades and you can't say anything other than, "yep, they definitely deserve to fail."There are also the students in that category that have failed the same class multiple times. You'd think after the first F you'd come to class and, I don't know, do anything productive. I've seen people retake Calc 1 and Calc 2 upwards of three times. They always think they don't need to come to class. They are wrong. So yeah, I don't have any empathy for those students. It's different if a student had major health issues that prevented them from learning, but if that was the case, you tell your professor.I've been busy. Upgrade is coming. You will definitely see.

Sounds like you'd be a cool professor to have. To bad this is my last year of maths.

I eagerly anticipate its arrival!

[Chaos he/him]

Nice one; I had another person hit me back with that one on St. Pat's.

 

There's actually another calc limerick out there somewhere, but I'm too tired to go looking for it now.

 

 

Too many words for math?  Say it ain't so!  What about those perfect glories of mathematical learning - word problems?

 

Ironically, my actual job is a lot easier than teaching, and at this point pays more than I could have expected to be making.  But there's a big difference between teaching college and teaching elementary.  The latter would have required a level of "on" for me that would have eventually squeezed my poor little introvert soul dry.

Word problems are very overrated by students in their difficulty. If you practice, you realize there really aren't that many different problems textbooks even use. Just name crap and write stuff down until an equation appears. Not hard!

Maybe I don't find these poems amusing because I just really don't find poetry interesting in any way. If someone showed me their favorite poem, one that they say is very meaningful to them, I read it and I just don't get it. Maybe I never had the training for poetry to work in my brain, but I am a logical person, and the internal logic in poetry is so strange to me that it makes no sense. Why is this line even related to the previous? It doesn't follow logically. It really doesn't make sense to me.

I can enjoy stories a lot more because the sentences always do follow logically and follow logical, precise rules. Poems? Not so much.

I also have extreme difficulty in comprehending musical lyrics, which is essentially poetry. If a song is playing, it's rare that my brain even parses the correct lyrics. I'll almost always get it wrong if people force me to listen to a "deep" song with "awesome" lyrics. I'm sure the lyrics are great, but I listen to the sounds themselves, not the words. So I think it's a brain thing. People always try and sell poetry in that "it's just musical lyrics without sound!" Yeah well what if I don't care about lyrics

I usually just listen to orchestral or foreign music, because there's no need to know or care what the words mean.

[Kaymyth she/her]

Word problems are very overrated by students in their difficulty. If you practice, you realize there really aren't that many different problems textbooks even use. Just name crap and write stuff down until an equation appears. Not hard!

Maybe I don't find these poems amusing because I just really don't find poetry interesting in any way. If someone showed me their favorite poem, one that they say is very meaningful to them, I read it and I just don't get it. Maybe I never had the training for poetry to work in my brain, but I am a logical person, and the internal logic in poetry is so strange to me that it makes no sense. Why is this line even related to the previous? It doesn't follow logically. It really doesn't make sense to me.

I can enjoy stories a lot more because the sentences always do follow logically and follow logical, precise rules. Poems? Not so much.

I also have extreme difficulty in comprehending musical lyrics, which is essentially poetry. If a song is playing, it's rare that my brain even parses the correct lyrics. I'll almost always get it wrong if people force me to listen to a "deep" song with "awesome" lyrics. I'm sure the lyrics are great, but I listen to the sounds themselves, not the words. So I think it's a brain thing. People always try and sell poetry in that "it's just musical lyrics without sound!" Yeah well what if I don't care about lyrics

I usually just listen to orchestral or foreign music, because there's no need to know or care what the words mean.

 

I actually wasn't being sarcastic.  I was always good at word problems. 

 

The thing about poems is that there's always a story hiding in between the lines; that's what people are talking about when they say a poem has "depth".  Of course, there's also a lot of vague wording involved so different people can wind up pulling totally different meanings out of exactly the same set of words.  I can see how that would be agonizing for someone with a highly logical brain.

 

I do prefer music to spoken poetry.  I'm one of those awful people who sings to the radio in her car. 

[Chaos he/him]

I actually wasn't being sarcastic.  I was always good at word problems. 

 

The thing about poems is that there's always a story hiding in between the lines; that's what people are talking about when they say a poem has "depth".  Of course, there's also a lot of vague wording involved so different people can wind up pulling totally different meanings out of exactly the same set of words.  I can see how that would be agonizing for someone with a highly logical brain.

 

I do prefer music to spoken poetry.  I'm one of those awful people who sings to the radio in her car.

I know, it bothers me. The logical leaps just let people make crap up. I'm sure it's very exciting to determine what songs mean. When in reality, it may not mean anything and it's just dumb

[Kaymyth she/her]

I know, it bothers me. The logical leaps just let people make crap up. I'm sure it's very exciting to determine what songs mean. When in reality, it may not mean anything and it's just dumb

 

There are actually a lot of songs like that, where people come up with deep meanings and the artists say, "Um, no, I was just really, really high when I wrote that thing..."  Which personally I find hilarious.

 

Now I need to go to bed, so I'm going to drop a music video for a song that has absolutely no lyrics at all.  But the imagery is really awesome and some of the pieces make me think of Mistborn steeljumps.

 

[Chaos he/him]

There are actually a lot of songs like that, where people come up with deep meanings and the artists say, "Um, no, I was just really, really high when I wrote that thing..."  Which personally I find hilarious.

 

Now I need to go to bed, so I'm going to drop a music video for a song that has absolutely no lyrics at all.  But the imagery is really awesome and some of the pieces make me think of Mistborn steeljumps.

 

Lindsey Stirling is sooo good.

[Haelbarde he/him]

+1 for Lindsey Stirling.

Also speaking of maths, logic and puzzles, have you come across the Canterbury Puzzles, Chaos? One of the professors at my Uni runs a weekly puzzle club on campus, and we made attempts at some of those. They were fun. Mostly...

[Haelbarde he/him]

Important question: Which type of mathematics professor are you? One who crosses his "Z"S, or one whose"Z"s are indistinguishable from the number 2?

[Silverblade5 he/him]

What would your reaction be if a sharder became one of your students? (serious)

Edited April 8, 2016 by Silverblade5

[Chaos he/him]

+1 for Lindsey Stirling.

Also speaking of maths, logic and puzzles, have you come across the Canterbury Puzzles, Chaos? One of the professors at my Uni runs a weekly puzzle club on campus, and we made attempts at some of those. They were fun. Mostly...

I've never heard of them. That doesn't sound like my thing. I don't really like puzzles for the sake of puzzles. (Notably, I really dislike something Sudoku.)

 

Important question: Which type of mathematics professor are you? One who crosses his "Z"S, or one whose"Z"s are indistinguishable from the number 2?

 

I cross z's, 7's, and my t's have tails. I didn't originally when I was a college freshman, but I was quickly persuaded.

 

What would your reaction be if a sharder became one of your students? (serious)

I once did a take home exam that had a lot of Stormlight references, and one of my students did know of it.

If they were die-hard Sharder that I actually knew here... Hmmm. If I knew them, we'd need to talk a bit about that. It wouldn't be an issue, though.

[Haelbarde he/him]

I've never heard of them. That doesn't sound like my thing. I don't really like puzzles for the sake of puzzles. (Notably, I really dislike something Sudoku.)

Not a big fan of Sudoku's, though there's some variations which are a bit more interesting (say, take all the numbers out, but in each 3x3 block, have inequality signs to indicate whether the numbers in adjacent squares are greater or less than it.

I cross z's, 7's, and my t's have tails. I didn't originally when I was a college freshman, but I was quickly persuaded.

Good! A few of my lecturers this year don't, and it annoys me...

[Chaos he/him]

Not a big fan of Sudoku's, though there's some variations which are a bit more interesting (say, take all the numbers out, but in each 3x3 block, have inequality signs to indicate whether the numbers in adjacent squares are greater or less than it.

Good! A few of my lecturers this year don't, and it annoys me...

I just hate "games" without a point. If I wanted a brain teaser or game of skill, I'd play an actual game and feel much, much more rewarded. Like who the crap cares otherwise...

[Haelbarde he/him]

I just hate "games" without a point. If I wanted a brain teaser or game of skill, I'd play an actual game and feel much, much more rewarded. Like who the crap cares otherwise...

That makes an excellent question to ask. What games do you like to play? Do you have a favorite board game?

[Chaos he/him]

That makes an excellent question to ask. What games do you like to play? Do you have a favorite board game?

I don't have much opportunity to play board games in person. But when I visit Josh and Mi'ch in May, we intend to play a lot of Secret Hitler. I want to play more board games.

Video games, I like RPGs and strategy games. If I have a lot of time, I play Guild Wars 2. Otherwise, Hearthstone (very strategic, actually). I'm also playing Fire Emblem Fates now. Bravely Default sequel comes in a week, too! Sadly, Fates is not hooking me nearly me as much as Fire Emblem Awakening did, and I worry Bravely Second won't be the same, either. (I actually know Bravely Second is worse, because the soundtrack isn't nearly good...)

[Mestiv he/him]

What rank do you have in Hearthstone? What types of decks do you play?

[Mailliw73 he/him]

I don't have much opportunity to play board games in person. But when I visit Josh and Mi'ch in May, we intend to play a lot of Secret Hitler. I want to play more board games.

Video games, I like RPGs and strategy games. If I have a lot of time, I play Guild Wars 2. Otherwise, Hearthstone (very strategic, actually). I'm also playing Fire Emblem Fates now. Bravely Default sequel comes in a week, too! Sadly, Fates is not hooking me nearly me as much as Fire Emblem Awakening did, and I worry Bravely Second won't be the same, either. (I actually know Bravely Second is worse, because the soundtrack isn't nearly good...)

Can I ask why you haven't played any SE? Is it time constraints?

[Curiosity he/him]

Which one do you find more crunchy and delicious: Introductory Calculus or Introductory Linear Algebra?

(I'm still trying to decide for myself...) 

[Kaymyth she/her]

Have you tried joining/starting a regular board game club at the college?  You'd probably get a lot of folks crawl out of the woodwork that way.  Play board games AND meet geeks who aren't your students!  It's a win-win.

 

There are a ton of really good games out there, just waiting to be played.

[Chaos he/him]

What rank do you have in Hearthstone? What types of decks do you play?

 

Right now, very low because it's early in the season. Though I haven't played much in the past two months. Ladder isn't super exciting. I've gotten to rank 5 before.

I play midrange druid the most. I played it since GvG and it's pretty cool, though in the current refined list is broken. I also have played midrange pally, control warrior, and zoo. I like winning on ladder That said, Randuin is a lot of fun.

Can I ask why you haven't played any SE? Is it time constraints?

It seems like a ton of writing. I have no time for that.

 

Which one do you find more crunchy and delicious: Introductory Calculus or Introductory Linear Algebra?

(I'm still trying to decide for myself...)

As someone who has taught Calc 1 for, say, seven sections, I'm going to go with Calc 1. Not a fan of intro linear algebra. Last time I did linear algebra there were no matrices

 

Have you tried joining/starting a regular board game club at the college?  You'd probably get a lot of folks crawl out of the woodwork that way.  Play board games AND meet geeks who aren't your students!  It's a win-win.

 

There are a ton of really good games out there, just waiting to be played.

I guess but I generally would expect people to think it weird that a professor would join them.

[Silverblade5 he/him]

I once did a take home exam that had a lot of Stormlight references, and one of my students did know of it.

If they were die-hard Sharder that I actually knew here... Hmmm. If I knew them, we'd need to talk a bit about that. It wouldn't be an issue, though.

Reason why I'm asking is because Montanna State is one of the top colleges that I'm currently considering, and wherever I go, there's a very high chance I'll be doing calc 2 as a freshman.

[Haelbarde he/him]

Right now, very low because it's early in the season. Though I haven't played much in the past two months. Ladder isn't super exciting. I've gotten to rank 5 before.

I play midrange druid the most. I played it since GvG and it's pretty cool, though in the current refined list is broken. I also have played midrange pally, control warrior, and zoo. I like winning on ladder That said, Randuin is a lot of fun.

It seems like a ton of writing. I have no time for that.

As someone who has taught Calc 1 for, say, seven sections, I'm going to go with Calc 1. Not a fan of intro linear algebra. Last time I did linear algebra there were no matrices

I guess but I generally would expect people to think it weird that a professor would join them.

One of the lecturers at my uni runs a weekly two hour "puzzle and games" club. We get 4-10 people usually. It's a bit of fun. Sometimes we get other lecturers turn up.

I don't know what student culture is like where you are. So it'd depend.

Edited April 9, 2016 by Haelbarde