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I agree with this. A less tactful way of explaining it: "When am I ever going to use calculus in my life??" You? Probably never. But we're teaching everyone o
by nicolashahn 4y ago
I agree with this. A less tactful way of explaining it:
"When am I ever going to use calculus in my life??"
You? Probably never. But we're teaching everyone on the off chance that one of you goes on to do something useful with it. Enabling that one person to find a way to make rockets more efficient or something is well worth the tradeoff of wasting the rest of the class's time, from a societal point of view.
- ackfoobar 4y agohttps://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/why-i-couldn39t-be-a-math-teacher https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/why-i-couldn39t-be-a-math-...
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- tialaramex 4y agoFunny as that comic is, it's very unclear at a young age, and even when they're a bit older it's far from obvious. Even at first degree stage, some of the apparently best qualified teenagers who turned up for their first classes this week are going to flunk out anyway, and some of the kids who struggled and seemed like they'd be lucky to get their degree will be potential Fields Medal winners in 10-15 years. Their prior record, even now they're adults, is at best somewhat predictive and nowhere close to definitive.
- pydry 4y agoSomething like that did happen in one of my classes and the kids who didnt want to learn it said "why dont you just teach [ smart kid ] then? If anybody is gonna design rockets itll be him.
- jjoonathan 4y agoDo you want to tell a parent that their kid has already decided not to design rockets?
- alfnor 4y agoColleges attract big fish from small ponds, but most small ponds have small fish. Realistically, only big fish will have the attitude and aptitude to become something as advanced as rocket designer.
- jjoonathan 4y agoYes, but do you want to convince a delusional parent of that? I sure don't. At best it would be a thankless, difficult, and messy task.
- bee_rider 4y agoThe problem with this way is that calculus is needed to get through, like, a basic engineering degree, I assume economics if you are doing it with any rigor. I suspect these aren't like careers for the top 1% braniac kids, they are normal B+ student fields (I mean I know everyone gets straight A's in highschool now, but you know what I mean).
- scarface74 4y agoConsider the number of people that go through a typical Calculus class and the debt people get into go to college. Are you sure that ROÍ makes sense? If you want to force everyone to learn Calculus for “the good of society”, then don’t force the onerous debt of student loans on private individuals.
- tshaddox 4y agoWho will grow up to routinely do calculus mentally or on pencil and paper? I guess some people will be calculus instructors. Are there any other examples?
- michaelt 4y agoAnyone who does a STEM degree? I mean, if you're an engineer and you don't know the relationship between position, velocity and acceleration - you're going to have a bad time.
- nicolashahn 4y agoHe said, in the room full of software "engineers". (I am one)
- im3w1l 4y agoNeural networks build on calculus.
- nicolashahn 4y agoFew engineers work with neural networks, even fewer build them
- eternityforest 4y agoNobody, but can they do whatever math they actually will need without first learning that? I have no idea. So I will gladly defer to those who do understand math, and be glad someone does, or my career wouldn't exist.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]