Read this if you are a mathematician

[humndislocation]

You are a cunt.

I hope you fucking die.

That is all.

[Lynnie]

I cant do maths

[humndislocation]

Neither can I, and I'm getting fed up of wasting half an hour, because the mathematician that wrote the book I'm reading decided to replace something very simple, with an obscure symbol in order to show off his math penis. It doesn't help that they all use different symbols for the same fucking thing either.

CUNTS

The worst bit is, trying to do a google search for a mathematical symbol is a total cunt, because you can't exactly google for "wee squiggly line with a dot and a triangle with a little eye in it and a little box around it maths maths maths". If you're lucky you can find it by doing a search for "mathematical symbol" on wikipaedia or mathworld.

Apparently this


which would be what any sensible person would write, was too simple for the cuntsprocket that wrote the book I was reading to write, so he had to write this





ARGHHHHHHHH

[Keerin]

the second one makes more sense to me but thats only because you have compared the two, i wouldnt know what it meant otherwise.

[Hat Of Cheese]

But the first one is obviously the square root of the a²+b²+c², the second one looks stupid!

I feel your pain, Bryan

[humndislocation]

It's really fucking annoying, because the equation in question was getting the length of a vector, and the second notation is apparently some kind of general case that no one but a cunt would ever use, and has nothing to do with getting the length of a vector in computer games, so why the fuck would someone put it in a math book for people trying to write computer games arghhhh

People who did higher maths are probably laughing at me now.

[thomasjmaccoll]

i just did higher maths in may, and i would only know the first one, so i wouldn't feel too bad...

we did learn that |a| means the length of a though, so it could kinda make sense as something to do with that only with double lines and a base...

[Grimble-Grumble]

I got an A in advanced higher maths & I don't think I've seen the 2nd doo-dah before either

[humndislocation]

The fact that you guys that have done higher math have not seen this either makes me even more pissed off.

I've just had a look at the book, and I've noticed that they kind of explain this bit at the start, but you shouldn't have to look all the way through a math book in order to be able to understand the equations half way through.

If I want to find out how to find the intersection of two 3D objects, I sure as hell shouldn't have to look through the whole book, just in case whatever obscure symbol they're using is explained somewhere. I wouldn't mind so much if it was in the appendix bit where they explain what all the symbols mean, but it isn't.


EDIT: Yeah I've seen |a| before, for absolute value, or for the length of a vector, but I've never seen it with a little number like that before.

[RussellOrGoose]

Originally Posted by humndislocation

You are a cunt.

I hope you fucking die.

That is all.

I've hated maths all my life.I join you in that outcry..

[humndislocation]

Originally Posted by RussellOrGoose

I've hated maths all my life.I join you in that outcry..

Me too. I can understand some maths concepts really easily, but a lot of maths just passes me by. Stuff like matrix transformations, vectors, and quaternions make sense to me. Basic mental arithmetic is completely beyond me.

I'm far from being a hypochondriac, but I'm beginning to think I'm dyscalculic after discovering a site about the disorder on the internet. I had previously never heard of it.

All of the bolded descriptions of symptoms fit me:

Normal or accelerated language acquisition: verbal, reading, writing. Poetic ability. Good visual memory for the printed word.

Good in the areas of science (until a level requiring higher math skills is reached), geometry (figures with logic not formulas), and creative arts.


Difficulty with the abstract concepts of time and direction. Inability to recall schedules, and sequences of past or future events. Unable to keep track of time. May be chronically late.


Mistaken recollection of names. Poor name/face retrieval. Substitute names beginning with same letter.

Inconsistent results in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Poor mental math ability. Poor with money and credit. Cannot do financial planning or budgeting. Checkbooks not balanced. Short term, not long term financial thinking. Fails to see big financial picture. May have fear of money and cash transactions. May be unable to mentally figure change due back, the amounts to pay for tips, taxes, etc



When writing, reading and recalling numbers, these common mistakes are made: number additions, substitutions, transpositions, omissions, and reversals.

Inability to grasp and remember math concepts, rules, formulas, sequence (order of operations), and basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts. Poor long term memory (retention & retrieval) of concept mastery- may be able to perform math operations one day, but draw a blank the next! May be able to do book work but fails all tests and quizzes.

May be unable to comprehend or "picture" mechanical processes. Lack "big picture/ whole picture" thinking. Poor ability to "visualize or picture" the location of the numbers on the face of a clock, the geographical locations of states, countries, oceans, streets, etc.

Poor memory for the "layout" of things. Gets lost or disoriented easily. May have a poor sense of direction, loose things often, and seem absent minded. (Remember the absent minded professor?)

May have difficulty grasping concepts of formal music education. Difficulty sight-reading music, learning fingering to play an instrument, etc.

May have poor athletic coordination, difficulty keeping up with rapidly changing physical directions like in aerobic, dance, and exercise classes. Difficulty remembering dance step sequences, rules for playing sports.

Difficulty keeping score during games, or difficulty remembering how to keep score in games, like bowling, etc. Often looses track of whose turn it is during games, like cards and board games. Limited strategic planning ability for games, like chess.

[Hecate]

That's fucked up. I have never come across that before and did Higher maths and statistical methods in biology at uni, but vector calculations weren't needed. There is no good reason to change the conventional symbols like that, I agree it is defo a case of up-his-own-arseness, and can imagine how pissed off you must be going through all that hassle finding out what it meant. Hope the rest of it all goes smoothly Bryan
I really enjoyed maths at school, it was so logical and step-by-step, i found it easy and got an A at higher, I even considered doing it as a degree but found the stats course at uni really hard and dropped it after 1st year. A lucky escape maybe!

[humndislocation]

As I say, I'm a weird one, I was good at physics, I loved physics, I even wanted to do it at university, but my maths held me back. That said, I'm really glad I didn't because I would never have ended up in the com