3 ms·
In particular, while I can visualize code executing in my head, I cannot just look at a formula and do the same: the formula is too static. Formulae are a beau
by smitty1e 4y ago
In particular, while I can visualize code executing in my head, I cannot just look at a formula and do the same: the formula is too static.
Formulae are a beautiful top-down model of some narrow, idealized slice of reality.
Understanding is built bottom-up.
For example, the raw torment of differential equations could have been clarified if the Prof. said something like: "Your car going down the street is a differential equation. Your position, x, your speedometer velocity is dx/dt, and the accelerator pedal position d/dx(dx/dt). We will now set about abstracting this past all casual understanding."
- wrycoder 4y agoAnd then you learn that most differential equations are not explicitly solvable, and the world is actually coded in partial differential equations, anyway.
- consilient 4y ago> In particular, while I can visualize code executing in my head, I cannot just look at a formula and do the same: the formula is too static. The right lesson to learn from this isn't that math is too hard, it's that you're using the wrong tools. The usual target architecture of math (so to speak) is a rewrite engine, not a register machine. You should almost never be "executing" anything.