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Why is everything so jammed up, Mathematics? It's not. The language of mathematics is prose, usually written in English. The formulae are meant to illustrate t
by chongli 2y ago
Why is everything so jammed up, Mathematics?
It's not. The language of mathematics is prose, usually written in English. The formulae are meant to illustrate the relationships in a very concise way but they're meaningless without the accompanying prose.
- hinkley 2y agoYou know… when I took the SATs I surprised myself by scoring higher on verbal than math. But it has explained so much about my subsequent interactions with my fellow nerds. So many people don’t realize prose is part of their job description and it shows. Doubly so for mathematicians. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills until I have to talk to customers or consumers and I see how they think we are all collectively nuts. They’re not wrong. In software, restating the problem or the bullshit plainly is usually the first step to eliminating or mitigating it. George Carlin and his rants about softening words until they mean nothing comes to mind all too often.