What’s on your mind?

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

I decided to impart immense suffering on my roommate by forcing him to watch the awful periodic table documentary I had to endure a few months ago (with those fake British and French accents). We only got through half of it before both of us just could not stand it anymore. I didn't even watch the screen, I watched his face the entire time to see his reaction. Then we watched something actually good afterwards.

Find a good documentary instead. To understand the periodic table, especially when you meld in an understanding of electron shells and valences is to truly take into your very essence an understanding of chemistry. It also helps you understand the basics of modern electronics and semi-conductors.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I think it was Shakespeare who wrote "Time is the king of all men". As time passes thoughts of the death of my wife, which will also be 19 years ago this year, lessen slightly. For the first 10 years or so my mood changed in the weeks leading up to the anniversary, although I wasn't consciously thinking of it. After the anniversary passed my mood would lighten. Now, it is just another day. Yes, I still remember (and miss) my wife, but time heals in ways you never think will.

You shouldn't feel shame as time is doing its thing.

I can totally relate to this. Miss birthday is the end of November and we lost her just after Christmas. I dread that time of year. Once it’s passed it doesn’t feel quite as bad. It has been 8 years.
Mothers Day, Father’s Day are also not my favourite.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Part of my earlier reaction to this is that in Australia we think that voting is compulsory here.
Actually it's not.
It is compulsory to turn up a your polling place and get your name marked off as having attended.
What you do then is up to you.

• You can take your ballot sheets and fill them out appropriately.
• You can draw rude pictures about the candidate you hate most, or write nasty comments about them.
• Drawing pictures of Bluey on the back is ok, so long as the front is marked properly.
• You can simply put the unmarked sheets in the box.
• You can even just turn around and walk out, once you have been marked off.

Most people, having gone to their polling place and having had their name marked off do then take the time to vote properly.

Not getting your name marked off at a polling place warrants a $100 fine.
Getting your name marked off at two or more polling places is more serious and will have you having a heart-to-heart talk with the Australian Federal Police (= our FBI).

Independent studies show that voting fraud in Australia, Great Britain and the US is at the same rate, about 1 per million votes cast.

Interesting. I did not know it was the law to attend the polling station in Australia. Very different here where the turn out is usually quite low.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I decided to impart immense suffering on my roommate by forcing him to watch the awful periodic table documentary I had to endure a few months ago (with those fake British and French accents). We only got through half of it before both of us just could not stand it anymore. I didn't even watch the screen, I watched his face the entire time to see his reaction. Then we watched something actually good afterwards.

Isn’t this all you need to know?

 

[rm5]

Isn’t this all you need to know?

Probably.

With all due respect, I didn't enjoy science or math classes in high school. So probably all I need to know. Don't need to watch horrible actors try (and fail) to reenact the creation of elements.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Probably.

With all due respect, I didn't enjoy science or math classes in high school.

Possibly because they may have been poorly taught.

Maths and science are fascinating subjects, and it is possible (but can be difficult) to instil a sense of awed wonder into the discovery of these worlds; if encouraged, children can find the wonder in these subjects.

So probably all I need to know. Don't need to watch horrible actors try (and fail) to reenact the creation of elements.

Again, possibly because they may have been poorly taught.

 

[rm5]

Possibly because they may have been poorly taught.

Maths and science are fascinating subjects, and it is possible (but can be difficult) to instil a sense of awed wonder into the discovery of these worlds; if encouraged, children can find the wonder in these subjects.

Possibly, but I also think it's just my lack of understanding... and even when I try to understand those subjects, it just doesn't work. Really, math stopped making sense to me after elementary school.

 

[Clix Pix]

The original, the classic: Tom Lehrer's "The Elements"!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Possibly, but I also think it's just my lack of understanding... and even when I try to understand those subjects, it just doesn't work. Really, math stopped making sense to me after elementary school.

Well, I was a child when the Apollo space missions took place.

I remember my awed wonder, but I also remember how - because I had expressed an interest in this topic (actually, an absolute fascination with this stuff), - how my parents headed out and cheerfully bought me books on the moon, planets, the solar system, space, space exploration, the history of manned flight, and so on.

In other words, my interest in this sort of stuff (and my mother - who had been denied this, the opportunity to study science subjects at school, by her conservative father, despite her own fascination with science, avidly reading Darwin and Gregor Mendel subsequently as a young woman - was adamant that I would have the opportunity to study such things) was encouraged and supported and fed.

 

[rm5]

The original, the classic: Tom Lehrer's "The Elements"!

Oh yes! I HAVE heard this before—in fact, I found the score for it a few years ago!

 

[Chuckeee]

The original, the classic: Tom Lehrer's "The Elements"!

When I was in high school I memorized this, although I don’t remember the whole thing anymore. Just shows how much a nerd I was (and still am)

 

[Chuckeee]

Ugh! Spending the day prepping for my routine colonoscopy tomorrow.

 

[Herdfan]

With all due respect, I didn't enjoy science or math classes in high school.

Possibly because they may have been poorly taught.

I can almost guarantee they were poorly taught.

I was always good at math, but the one thing I never under stood was inverting a matrix. I didn't have a single teacher/prof who could explain to me WHY? and WHAT! If these people can't explain what they are used for, then why are they teaching me how to do it.

I think we are taught a lot of math that is not useful in the real world unless you have a job that requires a math degree. I think more time needs to be spent hammering basic math into the heads of these students.

Have you ever watched a HS age kid try to make change in their head? It would be funny if it weren't sad.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Ugh! Spending the day prepping for my routine colonoscopy tomorrow.

The very best of luck with it.

 

[Clix Pix]

Oh yes! I HAVE heard this before—in fact, I found the score for it a few years ago!

If you haven't listened to some of Tom Lehrer's other music/albums/tracks from those albums, too, you're in for a treat, although now, of course, some of it is quite dated [and in this day and age of hyper-awareness of social issues and political correctness probably would be considered quite a lot more than merely inappropriate as well] but, hey, at the time it was popular, his satire and musical presentation of such was funny and meaningful to some of us (now) older folks who were around to hear it and enjoy it!

Nevertheless, even for a young person now in 2024 I daresay it would be fun to hear some of his recorded tracks at least once! Really, it was more his subject matter and his satirical approach to it, rather than the musical accompaniment to which he set it, which was so appealing to many, many people back in the day. He had a way of nailing and presenting things in a humorous new light (and he tackled quite a lot of what would be considered PRSI type material) so that even probably the most sincere believer couldn't help chuckling at what he was singing...... Even now I still snicker at many of the tracks on his albums (most or all of which I have in one form or another: LPs, CDs, digital downloads via iTunes).....

 

[Herdfan]

If you haven't listened to some of Tom Lehrer's other music/albums/tracks from those albums, too, you're in for a treat,

Growing up my parents had a couple of his albums. My friends would come over and we would play them and laugh our 🍊's off.

 

[diggy33]

The Roast of Tom Brady on Netflix is some of the best comedy I've heard in years

 

[bousozoku]

Possibly because they may have been poorly taught.

Maths and science are fascinating subjects, and it is possible (but can be difficult) to instil a sense of awed wonder into the discovery of these worlds; if encouraged, children can find the wonder in these subjects.

Again, possibly because they may have been poorly taught.

During my 4th grade (9 years old?), we started to have maths and science classes. I learned the periodic table and was ready for chemistry class in 10th grade. The students from other schools had no clue.

Most of my maths teachers were awful. I suspect that my maths teachers from the early years could have made assignments and lessons more visual, rather than "If Train A is headed east at 80 mph and Train B is headed west at 50 mph, when will they pass each other?"

 

[bousozoku]

I can almost guarantee they were poorly taught.

I was always good at math, but the one thing I never under stood was inverting a matrix. I didn't have a single teacher/prof who could explain to me WHY? and WHAT! If these people can't explain what they are used for, then why are they teaching me how to do it.

I think we are taught a lot of math that is not useful in the real world unless you have a job that requires a math degree. I think more time needs to be spent hammering basic math into the heads of these students.

Have you ever watched a HS age kid try to make change in their head? It would be funny if it weren't sad.

I had a need to finish a university level Algebra class and I managed to find an instructor who understood how to make it real. I actually participated in class, and helped other students with ways I used algebra in programming computers. I still had trouble during tests, but that would take time to overcome.

HS Age? I was surprised how many minimum wage workers couldn't do simple math or spell without help. The 18-20 year olds just used the internet to figure out anything, rather than make an effort.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

During my 4th grade (9 years old?), we started to have maths and science classes. I learned the periodic table and was ready for chemistry class in 10th grade. The students from other schools had no clue.

Most of my maths teachers were awful. I suspect that my maths teachers from the early years could have made assignments and lessons more visual, rather than "If Train A is headed east at 80 mph and Train B is headed west at 50 mph, when will they pass each other?"

Actually, I was exceptionally fortunate to have an outstanding Maths teacher - a wonderful and academically gifted woman who used to encourage the girls ("there is no reason why girls cannot get an A in Maths" she used to say), and who was fascinated by the history of Maths (she once gave me a biography of famous mathematicians to read and give talks about, attempting to marry my interest in history with Maths) and the philosophy of (and concepts informing) Maths.

 

[bousozoku]

Actually, I was exceptionally fortunate to have an outstanding Maths teacher - a wonderful and academically gifted woman who used to encourage the girls ("there is no reason why girls cannot get an A in Maths" she used to say), and who was fascinated by the history of Maths (she once gave me a biography of famous mathematicians to read and give talks about, attempting to marry my interest in history with Maths) and the philosophy of (and concepts informing) Maths.

Most of the people who started Silicon Valley had mathematics degrees. In those days, there were no Computer Science degrees, so those who programmed often started in mathematics.

 

[rm5]

During my 4th grade (9 years old?), we started to have maths and science classes. I learned the periodic table and was ready for chemistry class in 10th grade. The students from other schools had no clue.

Most of my maths teachers were awful. I suspect that my maths teachers from the early years could have made assignments and lessons more visual, rather than "If Train A is headed east at 80 mph and Train B is headed west at 50 mph, when will they pass each other?"

I remember taking the stupid Standardized-Based Assessment and the PARCC Test in elementary/middle school. There were several sections, but I remember distinctly not knowing how to plot points on a graph. idk if that was the teacher's "fault" or whether it was just my own incompetence, probably the latter. That was the first time (that I remember at least) where I didn't understand math. Also, since it was a state standardized test, there was no consideration for us special ed kids, which made it more difficult than it probably should have been.

 

[Macky-Mac]

I'm remembering taking 10th grade geometry with the best math teacher I ever had. He made it all very clear......but when he graded our tests he would take off points for poor penmanship. I would correctly solve the problems but the vertical strokes in my writing were never sufficiently parallel for him so my test would be returned with red lines all over it indicating where he'd deducted points

 

[rm5]

but when he graded our tests he would take off point for poor penmanship.

No teacher or professor has ever done that in my experience. Seems a little bit extreme to me, honestly. I get it if it's completely illegible, but if it's slightly off, what?!

 

[Apple fanboy]

I remember taking the stupid Standardized-Based Assessment and the PARCC Test in elementary/middle school. There were several sections, but I remember distinctly not knowing how to plot points on a graph. idk if that was the teacher's "fault" or whether it was just my own incompetence, probably the latter. That was the first time (that I remember at least) where I didn't understand math. Also, since it was a state standardized test, there was no consideration for us special ed kids, which made it more difficult than it probably should have been.

Funny thing is no one ever plots a graph in the real world anymore.
That’s what excel is for!