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I think Neil Tyson does a beautiful job of explaining why basic education is important: There are people who say “I'll never need this math -- these trig ident
by shantanubala 14y ago
I think Neil Tyson does a beautiful job of explaining why basic education is important:
There are people who say “I'll never need this math -- these trig identities from 10th grade or 11th grade.” Or maybe you never learned them. Here's the catch: whether or not you ever use the math that you learned in school, the act of having learned the math established a wiring in your brain that didn't exist before, and it's the wiring in your brain that makes you the problem solver.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0E-9uJgDZU&feature=youtu.be&t=53s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0E-9uJgDZU&feature=youtu...
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- victorhn 14y agoHe is succesfully managing a Minecraft hosting company. I don't think he is lacking in the problem solving skill.
- shantanubala 14y agoYes and no -- learning calculus (which is offered in many high schools) or advanced physics (he's in a private high school, so I'm assuming their classes and lab activities are well-funded) is still different. The real question in all this: is this a false dilemma? Is it really impossible for him to pursue both? If possible, learning physics and managing a Minecraft hosting company is clearly better than just the latter.
- InfiniteLoopx64 14y agoCan I not learn "math" wiring from doing other activities that ACTUALLY benefit me, such as programming? The very act of owning a business and such is giving me the PRACTICAL knowledge while still building the wiring. It's win win.
- shantanubala 14y agoI didn't say you can't -- I was simply adding to this: > That said, for most people the purpose of school is to prepare them to be able to support themselves and their families, and it sounds like he's basically able to do that now. The real question you have to ask is whether you can do both (impractical and practical) -- if you can do both, then it is clearly better than doing one. You may not realize it now, but a lot of things that seem impractical can become very useful (or at the very least, fascinating) when provided with the right context. For example, if you ever want to learn about how your computer works on the inside, knowing basic physics will give you better perspective on what's happening. More obscure stuff like Quantum Tunneling starts appearing in technologies like NAND flash memory -- it's not necessarily practical to know all that, but I'm very happy that I know it.
- InfiniteLoopx64 14y agoFunny you mention Quantum tunneling as I love delving into quantum mechanics and various inner topics such as tunneling. I also enjoy going into the philosophical elements of said quantum mechanics. Cool thing is, I do all that in my free time, not at school. I like to keep an open mind and use the information on the internet to broaden my knowledge.
- shantanubala 14y agoThen you're on the right track :-) Forget I even said anything.
- shawndumas 14y agohave you seen minute physics on YouTube?
- InfiniteLoopx64 14y agoYes and I very much enjoy it.
- shawndumas 14y ago
- danielweber 14y agothat ACTUALLY benefit me, such as programming You don't know what you don't know. You can have a fine career in programming without math -- but with math you can have many great careers. Keep taking math and working hard at it. Stop when it gets too hard. Two of my three favorite classes in college were math classes -- combinatorics and algorithms.
- shawndumas 14y agoMore than that; your smart and get things done. if and when you needed to learn the math needed to solve a roadblock you'll use exactly the same skills you used to learn Linux administration/networking/programming