Algebra-- Why? (852 hits)
Category: PoliticsRating: 0.78 on 14 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by DemoLocke (View user info) at 2004-10-30 15:57:44 EDT
I've always been the first to admit that math is a wonderful tool-- to an extent. Without subtraction, I would not have known my age this year. Or division! Oh, my Long Division. You who made it possible to evenly distribute my lunch money among that group of thugs. They didn't even know! But as I sit here at my desk today, I wonder about the direction this instructor is taking my fellow classmates.
Algebra is threatening to cross a well defined line, from practical and rewarding into a dark abyss of abstraction and theory. Please, Mrs. Hansen, allow the class to make better use of its time. After all, when are we ever going to encounter algebra in the real world?
We could be designing computers and airplanes, if you'd just set our minds free. I could finally start my career as an astronaut. You said it yourself: the sky's the limit, and we are the future. But when you start telling me that "x = y + 4," I wonder if there will even be time for my future. What, you're assigning more homework? Please, hear me out.
Think of it this way, Mrs. Hansen. There are 7 days in a week, and if I waste an hour and a half on your algebra homework each day, then an entire week of my life will be gone in, well, not all that long when you think about it.
Please, Mrs. Hansen, don't let our minds go to waste. We need to be learning material we can really use out there. Let us embark upon the nation's labs and space observatories, making discoveries you know not of!
-Tyler Ronald, 7th Grade
User Reviews
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2004-10-31 07:36:02 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Read UlfGabe's work, he seems a little...humourless.
Submitted by jack11058 (user info) at 2004-10-31 07:24:19 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
And another.
Submitted by jack11058 (user info) at 2004-10-31 07:23:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
UlfGabe, no shit? it's called satire.
Haha. I caught it when "you" were talking about computers and astronauts. This deserves a higher rating.
Submitted by Socialist_Joe (user info) at 2004-10-31 03:41:47 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
i cant add anymore i fogot how
damn addition and its not being useful
Submitted by alu (user info) at 2004-10-30 23:17:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
As soon as I finished I knew there would be people who wouldn't get the joke. I thought it was good satire though, particularly this:
"Think of it this way, Mrs. Hansen. There are 7 days in a week, and if I waste an hour and a half on your algebra homework each day, then an entire week of my life will be gone in, well, not all that long when you think about it."
Since you can find the answer using simple algebra.
x = number of days with algebra homework
x(1.5) = 7(24)
x = 112 days
Sweet irony, keep up the good work.
Submitted by Wiggles (user info) at 2004-10-30 18:43:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
<ejaculates>
Submitted by Supreme_Overlord (user info) at 2004-10-30 18:39:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
if I waste an hour and a half on your algebra homework each day,
------------------------------------------------------------------
It takes you an hour and a half to do your algebra homework? It used to take me about 10 minutes while I was watching TV. Applied algebra is pretty weak anyway. The theory is where it starts to get interesting. Rings...
Submitted by Aladdin (user info) at 2004-10-30 17:27:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I HATE MATH ! I am terrible and unskilled at it... But if your serious about your post then you
must realize that all numbers exist on a plane (A visual representation called the Cartesian plane)
and later on you can use Parametrics to identify numbers.
Algebra is a necessary skill, before you can design rockets, you need to know how to find a straight
line in that plane.
Eventually the formula's become so intense that without Algebra, you would be up shit creek.
Algebra is basically a way for us to group things together, rather then use numbers which are impossible.
So give Algebra a chance, Without it, the quadratic formula would be impossible to memorize.
-b plus/minus root (b squared - 4ac) all over 2a
Submitted by FATMANTPK (user info) at 2004-10-30 17:01:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Funny
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2004-10-30 16:57:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
That's true. Probably the reason for the people accusing me of mistakes and not elaborating.
Besides, a lot of people wouldn't be familiar with the notation.
Submitted by stevie_says (user info) at 2004-10-30 16:47:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I can't fucking stand math. Seriously, I knew I was never going to use everything from grade six up...why the hell did they make me learn it? I would have rather been in an extra English or Social Studies class than wasting my time with something totally pointless.
It's fine and dandy if you're good at it, but if you struggle at something totally useless, then they should let you build your strengths in other areas. I would have rather been running laps than doing calculus.
Submitted by Demolocke (user info) at 2004-10-30 16:39:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Zakalwe, your Taylor Series validation of Euler's Identity would have been more compact w/ sigma notation. The "..." leaves some ambiguity...
UlfGabe, no shit? it's called satire.
Submitted by UlfGabe (user info) at 2004-10-30 16:28:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
everything that has been built and will be built in the future is a result of math..
a good post, but i do not take kindly to science/math bashing posts
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2004-10-30 16:02:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Auto maths post +2. Keep up the algebra and you could do something like this....
http://www.ubersite.com/m/47356