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pkollas's comments:
on Rebroadcast: Math Appeal
Sata,
How much math did you take, and what types? You mentioned algebra and trig in your earlier comment. If you indeed struggled with algebra, it was probably not taught well, unfortunately, leaving you with not only a bad taste in your mouth for math but also a lack of understanding of what good math courses can do for one's analytical ability. I should note that this analytical ability doesn't necessarily appear overnight after one completes a single math course; it builds over time.
Your math, physics, & chem majors may not have gotten to that point in their development either, especially if they were early in their school programs or were themselves struggling with the coursework.
Belive it or not, I had trouble with math, too, in college; a lot of it was a struggle. But I didn't lose sight of what it offered, and now I'm glad I kept an open mind about the subject. It is useful probably every day, in things both mighty and mundane.
One of the jobs I interviewed for (and got) required that I prove the ability to perform math operations with nothing more than a pencil and paper--yes, including longhand division, which I'd not done in decades!--and I was really glad I didn't just say, "Why should I do this; when would I need it on the job?" But the employer wanted to be sure I could do calculations even if no calculator or computer (or tech friends) were available--which could have happened, as a lot of the work was on airborne aircraft. This was in the days before laptops were common.
My point is, you never know when you might wish you had math in your hip pocket. And even when you don't think you need it, you could use it to understand things better, like medical studies that get splashed onto the news with little analysis by the media.
And no, I'm not a uni-dimensional math geek, in case you wondered. I've also taught business communications (including international comm.), medical topics, and more, and I ran an editing business for well over a decade. Studied and practiced law, too. I've never considered anything I ever learned to be a waste of time; everything builds on everything else . . . including math.
Cheers,
P
posted 2 years, 1 month ago
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on Rebroadcast: Math Appeal
Sorry to hear that you consider math study a "complete waste of time," but if you are open minded, you can learn some good ideas from the posts of several others here.
Learning math is a way of learning critical thinking--which is essential for life in any field. Try voting without being able to assess ballot measures; try shopping without understanding how to analyze the misleading hype that high-paid marketing types throw at us every day.
You won't get a good understanding of analysis from studying just addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and fractions. Besides, these are the most boring aspects of numerical operations! Once you get beyond those fundamentals, you will (if you have a good teacher, a good text, and if necessary a good tutor) find yourself enjoying the study of solving problems. Consider teaching yourself from a good textbook if you don't like math teachers. Just don't give up on yourself or the value of a good education in critical thinking.
posted 2 years, 1 month ago
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on Rebroadcast: Math Appeal
"Why do so many dislike math?" Lots of factors enter into this simple-looking question, but when I taught college math for a while, I learned four parts to the answer--one "R" and three "T"s: (1) poor explanation of math's relevance; (2) poor teacher(s); (3) poor texts; and (4) lack of tutoring.
The first three I learned from an excellent math textbook we used at the university where I taught part-time; the fourth I learned from my wife. She had to take college algebra three times in order to pass it, and she said the difference the third time was having a good tutor.
The relevance of math to the "real world" is greater than most folks might realize, and it's not hard to demonstrate if done well. In the algebra textbook my university used when I taught math, each new major section tied in the upcoming material with real problems people might want to solve or a dab of historical significance. This made the material come alive. We also assigned real-world work for the students, who were mostly working adults. They each had to bring in a story of how they had used, or seen applied, some aspect of algebra in their real world--usually from work, but it sometimes was from home.
With a proper focus on the above four factors, we can turn around the trend that spawned the not-so-old joke about today's kids: "Sixty percent of school students don't understand math; the other two thirds just don't care."
posted 2 years, 1 month ago
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on Rebroadcast: Math Appeal
Tom, there were really three trips (one to work, one home, and then the overall "trip" (total commute). I suspect it's the total commute in question. Given that problem (the other two averages are just too easy), I would say that the average speed was 40 mph: miles = 30 X 2 = 60; hours = 0.5 + 1 = 1.5. So, 60 miles / 1.5 hour = 40 mph, the overall average.
But you are certainly right that words matter in defining "the" problem!
posted 2 years, 1 month ago
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on Strategic Default
A mortgage is not the same thing as a home loan. "Mortgage" means the security interest in the collateral (the home) held by the lender. So, when you're paying your house payment each month, you're paying down the home loan. You don't extinguish the mortgage until you have paid the loan down to zero.
It's too bad so many folks use the terms interchangeably--yet another small part of the misunderstandings that surround this housing-bubble/bust situation.
A very good book to understand the recent market fiasco, and all market downturns in general, is How Markets Fail, by John Cassidy. Readers might also enjoy the book called The Quants (I forget the author's name), which is about the financial industry and its zany ways of making huge sums of money by, in part, using huge amounts of leverage--borrowed money--in risky ways.
posted 2 years, 2 months ago
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on Live from Salem
RE sobriety checkpoints: The proponent of this bill has not yet stated anything resembling hard data proving that a relinquishing of rights under the STATE constitution would reap a benefit not otherwise available. His reference to an unspecified "survey" from Arizona is useless: in case he hasn't noticed, Oregonians don't view things the same way as do the more conservative Arizonans.
In Oregon, we have--thank goodness--a separate constitution from the national one. This separate guarantee of rights allows us to provide a higher level of protection for our state's citizens. The people of Oregon do not believe that sobriety checkpoints are a vaild use of governmental power, as they are not based on probable cause (actually "reaonable suspicion" for a police stop). Were we to allow one "little" infringement on our separate, greater rights, we would have no excuse for preventing any others. As Ben Franklin is reputed to have said, "Any nation [state] that gives up a little liberty for a little security will lose both."
posted 2 years, 2 months ago
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on Life Review
Your guest, Mr. Gagnet, mentioned a question that until today I had always thought only I asked: Would we, individually, exist if we had different parents? I have come at this from the standpoint of my own nuclear family--I was one of six kids-- as follows: "Why, given that all six of us were born of the same parents, do I perceive the world through the eyes of the last-born rather than through the eyes of any of my brothers?" In other words, what exactly makes me, me--and any of my older sibs that person? We have roughly the same genetic makeup, yet we are separate humans.
And, in the bigger picture, why do I happen to be the person who sits at this computer in Hillsboro, Oregon rather than, say, a Japanese or Norwegian or Kenyan person? Why now rather than a century ago, for example?
When I ask even the nuclear-family version of the above inquiry of thoughtful people, including some of my brothers, I generally get the equivalent of the 1,000-yard stare. People just don't think about such a question, which at once asks them to consider genetics, philosophy, psychology, and perhaps more (some would include religion as one of the frameworks). My background includes a fair amount of science and medicine, but I have no clear answer to my own question. It is gratifying, however, to learn that at least one other individual is contemplating the same sort of inquiry.
Thanks to Mr. Gagnet for his thoughtful interview.
Anyone else out there care to take a stab at my question?
posted 2 years, 2 months ago
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on Northwest Passages: Lynn Schooler
Though I've been to Alaska numerous times, I don't think anyone can grasp the place quickly. A wonderful story of one who stayed for decades is the book by the man who built his own cabin in the boonies in the '60s, lived in it by himself for 30 or 40 years, and photographed / wrote about what he experienced. He also filmed his cabin-building project by himself, back when movie cameras were wind-up affairs using real film.
The story, including much of that camera work, is retold from time to time during OPB-TV pledge drives. Wish I remembered the author's name, but doubtless someone will be able to plug in that information here. It's a great book, enriched with wonderful photography by the author as well as interesting observations--on both Alaska and philosophy--by the cabin builder / photographer / philosopher.
posted 2 years, 2 months ago
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on Public Nudity
Great idea!
posted 3 years, 4 months ago
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on Public Nudity
Your guest Lauren Regan, while providing some good info, goofed in a way that will mislead most listeners about federal vs. state laws. She said that laws start at the federal level and that state laws cannot disagree with those. That's false.
In some areas, state law is the primary source of regulation--traditional areas are health and education. It was this very misunderstanding of the federal/state relationship that led to the former US Attorney General's loss in the US Supreme Court a couple years ago, when the feds claimed supremacy over Oregon as to use of certain drugs in our Death With Dignity statute.
The feds do not always have the right to tell people what to do. The 10th Amendment to the US Constitution makes this clear: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
Interesting show, overall.
posted 3 years, 4 months ago
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on Veterans' Stories
Your question, "Do you share your stories," made me think about my efforts to relate my war experiences (from more than one conflict) and reminded me that the difference isn't just between veterans and non-veterans. Even my non-combat fellow service members don't understand--perhaps can't understand--what it was like.
After attempting to explain my experiences in various wars, particularly the one in Iraq, I've concluded that war is one of those things that people have to experience first-hand to really comprehend. Not that I'm recommending such an experience for everyone, but I don't think anything else makes it "real" to a listener.
I'm still serving in the Air Force Reserve, and when I hear fellow service members carp about their petty problems stateside, I sometimes feel obliged to explain that they really have no idea what it's like to be in a truly "operational" military role until they are deployed for a long time in a combat zone.
None of this is meant as a put-down of anyone who has not "been there." I'm just answering your posted question about whether I share my stories, and why I usually don't anymore. If anyone has any suggestions about how to bridge the gap better than I have been able to, I'd be happy to learn them.
I salute my fellow vets. Thanks for running this show today.
posted 3 years, 6 months ago
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