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In what universe is goddamn CALCULUS outdated. As long the reality consists of things changing in relation to other things, it remains modern.
by NikolaeVarius 5y ago
In what universe is goddamn CALCULUS outdated. As long the reality consists of things changing in relation to other things, it remains modern.
- onychomys 5y agoWell, it's now pretty easy to get really close to a continuous answer by using discrete steps in a computer. If you need to get the area under a curve by breaking it into a billion tiny rectangles, so what, your computer will do that calculation in a second or two. (...that being said, calculus is a lot more than just a way to calculate, it's a whole method of thinking of the world, and that's clearly not outdated quite yet)
- nybble41 5y ago> If you need to get the area under a curve by breaking it into a billion tiny rectangles, so what, your computer will do that calculation in a second or two. That, too, is calculus. However, a closed-form solution will always be preferred—"a second or two" might be acceptable if you're only evaluating the function once, but it's clearly not good enough when you're applying it to a large data set. We may all be carrying around supercomputers in our pockets but we're still well short of the point where that kind of optimization wouldn't lead to a noticeable increase in both performance and (practical) functionality.