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The idea that seemingly motivates this project -- that it is somehow impossible or undesirable or not ideal for people to learn enough symbolic manipulation to
by civilized 5y ago
The idea that seemingly motivates this project -- that it is somehow impossible or undesirable or not ideal for people to learn enough symbolic manipulation to do basic algebra -- is depressing to me.
Now we're going to have people who know algebra programming apps to help people who don't know algebra solve extremely specific problems with no ability to generalize.
- zafka 5y agoI did not get that impression at all. The first example talked about visualizing differential equations.
- dr_dshiv 5y agoThat is not the motivation. The motivation is to develop better interfaces for mathematical concepts. In the same way as Arabic numerals are better interfaces than Roman numerals.
- civilized 5y ago"I want to do good things" isn't a substantial description of anyone's philosophy. The question is "what is good". Web apps for visualizing math are nothing new, profs were doing it with Java 20 years ago. The manifesto on this page is the new and bad element being added. Contrary to the manifesto, symbolic manipulation is not a freakish knack possessed only by an elite minority of humans. Barring severe and rare developmental issues, everyone can understand and manipulate written symbols. And in countries with effective educational cultures, people learn it. Our problem is a damaged education culture, not a general human inability to do basic algebra.
- dr_dshiv 5y ago> Barring severe and rare developmental issues, everyone can understand and manipulate written symbols. Yes, but it doesn’t mean the symbols can’t evolve. Like Feynman Diagrams—they made the concepts way more accessible.