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Pastimes : Don't Ask Rambi -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rick Julian who wrote (41725)	11/14/1999 10:33:00 AM
From: Gauguin	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 71178

What about the Ultimate Tests of us Wussies? Huh? You know, like staying awake. Clean clothes. Doors closed on car. Hair combed. Knowing day of week. I went in to Safeway, to get fresh bagels, and I only get a couple, based on the day of week. I couldn't remember which day it was, so I asked this guy getting something there, "Is it Tuesday.....or Wednesday?" He looked at me very strangely, and said, "It's Thursday." "Oh." Oooops. I mumbled something, but what ya gonna do. Have you noticed, in the check out line, that "Cosmo" is like American Cleavage Magazine? How are you sposed to not look, or look, at that? AND the rest of the stuff? Round and nekkid, those girls are. Too "thrust", for comfort. Kind of scary. Kind of "in your face", but you should be so lucky. Hmmmm. Well, never mind. I'll stop. Still, the ck-out line FREAKS me OUT. Now, THERE'S A TEST........ of mastery skillz. "Okay; so you're a Math Whiz Cheese. Now let's see if you can stand in a grocery line."

To: Rick Julian who wrote (41725)	11/14/1999 11:11:00 AM
From: Edwarda	Respond to of 71178

Karma, I fully agree and I should like to add something: If mastery of mathematics is the litmus test for manhood, then I have a distinct problem! <VBG>

To: Rick Julian who wrote (41725)	11/14/1999 11:20:00 PM
From: nihil	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 71178

I was, of course, referring to Nick, a boy I have learned something about from his mother. I believe from what I've heard that he has the potential to become one of the scientific elite. But he seems to be frustrated by his early exposure to what is after all a fairly routine and low level mathematics and a rigid and unfair teacher. One of my sons with perfect SAT's and (later) LSAT's managed to take trigonometry five times before he passed. He became an excellent, if somewhat acerbic, waiter, and an excellent rock bassist before giving up the artistic life and becoming a computer engineer (20 years too late). For such people, mathematics is the test, the wall, the barrier, the tunnel. Much brilliant mathematical work is done by teenagers and early 20's. If one does not get a chance to face trhe wall while young, chances are he'll never face it at all. Many brilliant boys and almost all brilliant girls are deprived of the opportunity. When I was 15 I screwed up plane geography. I later learned that I had an extraordinary mind with the most detailed spatial perception. I remember it was almost as if I could lay a mental scale against a line and measure it objectively as 7 mm. When I saw two triangles in the book and had to prove they were congruent I didn't see a problem. I measured them in my mind and saw that the lengths of the corresponding sides were identical. Problem solved. No one had bothered to introduce me to the idea of mathematical proof. I was then and am still now a pure empiricist. Fortunately, my father referred me to Dr. Ralph Hefner, Professor of Mathematics at Ga Tech, and he tutored me in mathematics for a few weeks who taught me the game of pure mathematics. His son, Bob, was tutored by my father who was a professor of English. Both Bob and I ended up with Ph.D.'s. A little bit of tutoring by great teachers at a critical time can make all the difference. It is unfair to expect a kid to learn axiomatic mathematics from scratch on his own and without help. Class room teaches don't have the time to adapt everything to each student. If one is interested in science (real truth in my opinion) its hard to be an Einstein or Faraday. Mathematics, somehow, IMO, is the language of science. One might as well try to be a musician without understanding the physics of sound or harmony or while being deaf or being a painter while color blind as try to work in science without mathematics. Music, Painting, Sculpture, Morals, Theology, Philosophy and Literature are purely human mental activities limited by our objectively trivial existence. They are not scaled to the objective magnificence of the preexistent universe. The human mission is to explore and explicate that Universe. Perhaps, someday soon, we will discover others who have done and will do a much better job. Then we can relax and engage in our trivial pursuits knowing that someone smarter, more dedicated, is engaged in learning about the Universe. Until then, we cannot spare a single person who can add to our knowledge.