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Sometimes the things you've forgotten are important indeed! The other day I was building something and realized that I hadn't done a trig problem in at least 1
by tibbon 15y ago
Sometimes the things you've forgotten are important indeed!
The other day I was building something and realized that I hadn't done a trig problem in at least 10 years. I felt pretty sad when I had to look up how to solve it. I still remembered the general concept, but the details were lost on me. Yet, it was important that I knew how to do it.
I'm trying to go through Khan Academy in my spare time to learn and relearn the math that has slid out of my memory.
- pixelcort 15y agoYes but isn't that better than having never known it in the first place; better to have a known unknown than an unknown unkown? At least in this case you know what things to look up; imagine never having learned those things in the first place.
- tibbon 15y agoAbsolutely. I knew there some something with an opposite angle and a hypotenuse, and it only took me a minute or two. If I had never known it, there's no way I could have done that so quickly.
- williamcotton 15y agoSOHCAHTOA!
- melvinram 15y ago"sucka-toe-ah" that's how we remembered it in high school :D
- randomdata 15y agoHow about "latent" knowledge? I try to quickly learn about every concept I come across to the point that I understand when and why you would want to use it, but not the point that I understand how to implement it. When I encounter a problem that fits the concept, then I can look it up and learn how to do it fully. I don't know, I feel it has served me well anyway. I like to jump on problems in all kinds of industries, so it is impossible to study everything ahead of time.
- r00fus 15y agoI agree with this way of seeing knowledge. Knowledge of subject X shouldn't be represented as a binary field, since everything is fractal and you could spend infinitely long trying to understand it.
- nassosdim 15y agoPersonally I can't tell how thankful I am about Khan Academy because there are really mathematical concepts that I simply couldn't digest back when I was in high school mostly because I either got lost in 1-2 chapters (back then) and instead of understanding the concepts I ended up drowning in them. You know what is even funnier? That after learning the logic behind programming I was able to perceive mathematical concepts under a whole different view and had so many fulfilling "oh that!" moments so far!
- SoftwareMaven 15y agoThat is why our educational system should be based on capability and progress, not age, from grade one. Kids shouldn't be put in a situation where they will drown as it only sets them up for more difficulty later.