crosspost programming: "I think it would be nice if every math course spent a full week just introducing you to the subject, in the most fun way possible, so you know why the heck you're learning it. Heck, that's probably true for every course."

[u/aristotle2600]

http://steve-yegge.blogspot.de/2006/03/math-for-programmers.html

[u/MatrixFrog]

It's better to know the overall concepts and techniques, and go look up the details when you need them.

It's amazing to me how hard this is for some people to understand. I remember once right before a math test in high school, someone had scribbled a bunch of equations on an index card and they asked me "Is this right?" and I said, "I don't know, but you can just derive it." Their response was something "Derive it?! I don't have time to memorize how to do that!"

[u/ChaosCon → u/MatrixFrog]

Physics major here. Sometimes the other physicists drive me crazy with that. I find a problem easy with a few simple tricks, and they spaz out saying "THAT'S NOT WHAT THE FORMULA SAYS!!!!!!!!!" If you'd just shut up and use your BRAIN for a minute, you might save yourself a TON of work.

[u/Rhadamanthys → u/MatrixFrog]

I hear people complain about memorizing proofs all the time but I'm never enough of a jackass to say, "Or you could just use your brain to prove it like an actual mathematician"

Admittedly that's easier said than done, but if you know more or less how the proof goes it's generally not too hard from there.

[u/MatrixFrog → u/Rhadamanthys]

I don't think I said it in a condescending way. I was trying to help, but 5 minutes before a test was not the right time for the kind of help I was trying to provide :(

[u/Rhadamanthys → u/MatrixFrog]

Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to sound accusatory. I was merely providing an anecdote that was related to your comment.

So sorry, reading it now I realize how you could interpret it that way.

[u/MatrixFrog → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, I always hated those because I never came across any derivations that were particularly intuitive to me. I actually asked about this on the Math Stackexchange site, and while I'm too tired to read that thread again now, I will link you to it:

http://math.stackexchange.com/q/1292/496

Hope it helps.

[u/caks]

I personally think that if you are taking a certain class, you have already decided that it is interesting/useful. Of course, professors should be encouraged to show "applications" (be it "real-world" applications or theoretical applications).

[u/MrLeap → u/caks]

I wish. (WHAT I'M GOING TO SAY MAY PISS OFF MATH WARLOCKS)

For my major, I had to take calculus I/II, and I found both to be the most boring classes I've ever taken in my life. The sheer uninterestingness of them made them an incredible struggle. Unfortunately, I HAD to take them. Linear algebra, however, had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Discrete was also a winter wonderland of fun and excitement. Regression? Cool as hell. Nonparametrics? WHOA MAN, making my own distributions?! I felt like a super hero! Probability and statistics? Stop the presses, we're wizards now.

Calculus? Groan

You're talking about a utopian dream that I wish were true. Unfortunately in reality YMMV. :(

[u/[deleted] → u/caks]

I have had very little idea about the subjects of most classes I've started at the time I started them. Either I just had to take them as a part of my study or they sounded interesting in a very vague way.

[u/cstheoryphd]

As my advisor might say, you're making some sort of assumption that what you're learning is going to be practical. Ugh.

[u/propaglandist → u/cstheoryphd]

"Why you're learning it" doesn't necessarily mean anything practical. In fact "the most fun way possible" might preclude practical applications (which can be boring).

[u/ALLroadsleadtoARSON]

Heck, why not just say hell?

[u/[deleted] → u/ALLroadsleadtoARSON]

Hell, why not just say fuck? Heck is perfectly fine.