3 ms·
This has always caused me trouble when learning new concepts. A name for something will be given (e.g. manifold) and it sounds very much like something that I'v
by andycrellin 1y ago
This has always caused me trouble when learning new concepts. A name for something will be given (e.g. manifold) and it sounds very much like something that I've come across before (e.g. a manifold in an engine) - and that then gets cemented in my brain as a relationship which I find extremely difficult to shake - and it makes understanding the new concept very challenging. More often than not the etymology of the term is not provided with the concept - not entirely unreasonable, but also not helpful for me personally.
It becomes a bigger problem when the etymology is actually a chain of almost arbitrary naming decisions - how far back do I go?!
- Enginerrrd 1y agoOn many occasions in my mathematics education I was able to figure out and use a concept based solely on its name. (e.g. Feynman path integral) Names are important.