Hi J_F_Shepard; False. You might not agree with some of my complaints but a story needs only one false element to be a false story.
Re: "A young college student ..."; False: He was a PhD candidate, that is, an older college student.
Re: "... was working hard in an upper-level math course,"; False: The class is better described as a graduate class.
Re: "... for fear that he would be unable to pass."; False: He was a PhD candidate and didn't need to pass any more classes, LOL,
Re: "On the night before the final, he studied so long that he overslept the morning of the test."; False, he thought it was a homework assignment, not a final exam.
Re: "When he ran into the classroom several minutes late ..."; The actual story never mentions "ran" or "several minutes". He was late enough that he missed the explanation for the equations. Probably more like 15 minutes late.
Re: "... he found three equations written on the blackboard. The first two went rather easily, but the third one seemed impossible."; False: There were only two equations. Both equations were unsolved but believed to be true. And he didn't solve either in class.
Re: "He worked frantically on it until — just ten minutes short of the deadline —"; False: There was no test. He thought they were homework problems.
Re: "... he found a method that worked, and he finished the problems just as time was called."; False: There was no test.
Re: "The student turned in his test paper and left."; False: He turned his papers in to the professor at his office. He was worried that the professor would lose it in all the other crap on his desk.
Re: "That evening he received a phone call from his professor."; False: His professor didn't look at it until six weeks later.
Re: " 'Do you realize what you did on the test today?' ..."; False: There was no test.
Re: "... he shouted at the student."; No indication that there was any shouting.
Re: " 'Oh, no,' thought the student. I must not have gotten the problems right after all."; False: The student never doubted that his proofs were correct.
Re: " 'You were only supposed to do the first two problems,' ... the professor explained."; False: There were only two problems and neither were assigned.
Re: "That last one was an example of an equation that mathematicians since Einstein have been trying to solve without success.' "; False: (a) Einstein was not a mathematician. (b) Einstein did not work on statistics problems like this. (c) The problem is in no way a fundamental or important result even in statistics.
Re: " 'I discussed it with the class before starting the test. And you just solved it!'" ; False: There was no test.
Source:
snopes.com
Now Snopes called it a "true" story. But with that many important errors and distortions, I'd call the story a lie. The true story is enough. You should quote it instead of the garbage you did.
-- Carl |
